Will Barack Obama's climate agenda survive a Republican pushback?
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Version 0 of 1. Barack Obama built a climate change strategy on bypassing Congress and using his existing authority to cut carbon pollution and prepare for an altered future. As it turns out, though, Obama could use some help from Congress after all in heading off Republican attempts to circumvent that effort. Four of Obama's top climate change officials appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday to try to build momentum behind Obama's use of federal government agencies to cut greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for future climate change. Democrats in the Senate have also launched a new climate task force – envisaged in part as a flying squad, that would protect Obama's climate plan from political attacks, and refute misinformation about climate science. The Democrats scrambled just in time. The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, said on Thursday he planned to force a vote to block the main pillar of Obama's climate plan: the Environmental Protection Agency's work to cut emissions from power plants. What they are fighting over <strong>Coal</strong> McConnell said he would use a little-known measure, “a resolution of disapproval”, to block the forthcoming EPA regulations, which he called a “war on coal”. Meanwhile, Republicans on the Senate committee attacked the science underlying climate change and accusing the president of destroying coal industry jobs and raising energy prices. “The EPA is on the wrong side of poverty,” John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, told the committee. “This administration, this EPA, has an agenda and that agenda is making poverty worse.” Some of the Republicans also argued that current technology was not ready. The main pillar of Obama's climate plan is his direction to the EPA to cut carbon pollution from power plants, which account for about a third of carbon dioxide emissions. The first set of proposed regulations – which apply only to future power plants – were published in the federal register on 8 January, and could go into force in 2015. The new standards would make it virtually impossible for any new coal-fired power plant to be built unless it includes new technologies to capture and store carbon. Republican critics say CCS technology is not yet commercially ready. Gina McCarthy, the EPA Administration, insists that it is, telling the committee it was “technologically viable”. McCarthy also said the agency was still on track to propose new regulations for existing power plants next June. That is expected to set the stage for an even bigger fight. <strong>Methane</strong> The EPA is also working on measures that would seek to limit methane emissions – which have risen dramatically in America's oil and natural gas boom. Environmental groups are pushing the EPA to draft regulations that would limit methane emissions all along the natural gas production chain – from well pad to compressor station. <strong>Greening the government</strong> Obama also ordered federal government department and agencies to find ways to save energy and reduce their own carbon footprint. Dan Tangherlini, the administrator of the General Services Administration, which acts effectively as the government landlord, told the hearing GSA buildings cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% last year – well ahead of their 2020 target. The federal government is also ramping up its use of renewable energy like wind and solar, with a 20% target by 2020. <strong>Preparing for future climate change</strong> Dan Ashe, the director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, told the hearing the agency was working to protect lands and wildlife from future sea-level rise and to plan for a future of more frequent and intense wildfires. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |