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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (51529)	5/14/2014 6:56:55 PM
From: Eric	Respond to of 86355

Obama Said to Put Personal Push Behind EPA Emission Rules By Lisa Lerer and Julianna Goldman May 14, 2014 2:10 PM PT U.S. President Barack Obama plans to personally unveil proposed carbon-emissions rules for power plants, elevating climate change policy as a top tier issue for his final two years in office, according to two people familiar with White House strategy. Obama is preparing to make the announcement with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy on June 2, just before he departs for a trip to Europe, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the schedule is still being planned. After relegating climate change to the back burner during his first term, Obama would be taking an unusual step of announcing regulatory proposals before they are finalized by the federal government and years before they would be implemented. His direct engagement is intended to demonstrate to environmental advocates and business interests that he’s committed to stricter emissions standards. “There’s no question that President Obama views this as a legacy issue and he wants to be very directly involved,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a non-profit advocacy group in Washington. “It sends the signal that this is going to remain a high profile issue for probably the rest of the president’s term.” A White House spokesman declined to comment on the administration’s plans. Meeting Deadline McCarthy said earlier this week that her agency is on track to propose new rules for existing power plants to limit carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act by June 2. That would meet the deadline Obama set a year ago in an executive memorandum directing the EPA to propose the standards. “We are going to show you that you can get significant reductions from the energy sector in a way that’s going to continue to provide reliable and cost-effective electricity, that is going to be continuing our quest to address the issue of climate change and that recognizes that we’re all in this together,” McCarthy said May 13 during a speech to the Association of Climate Change Officers Climate Strategies Forum in Washington. Obama has been laying the groundwork for a more aggressive stance on climate change in his second term. Late last year, he brought in John Podesta, who was chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton and an ally of environmental advocates, to oversee his climate agenda. Climate Assessment This month he conducted television interviews at the White House and members of his administration gave presentations to introduce a National Climate Assessment. The report, released May 6, concluded that global warming is already having an impact on the U.S. with flooding, drought and storms and will affect broad sections of the U.S. economy. “The public knows this is a problem,” Obama told Al Roker during an interview on NBC’s “Today” show that was broadcast May 7. “We’ve got to have the public understand this is an issue that is going to impact our kids and our grandkids, unless we do something about it.” Republicans such as Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma have accused the administration of using the climate report to support new regulations they say would eliminate jobs. The administration also has come under criticism from the coal industry. The climate assessment said that coal is responsible for most of the world’s carbon emissions since the Industrial Revolution. In 2012, nations including the biggest emitters of carbon pollution -- the U.S. and China -- agreed to negotiate a new climate change treaty by 2015 that would limit fossil-fuel emissions starting in 2020. The accord would succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which set pollution-reduction targets for more than 30 developed countries. The United Nations is aiming to have an accord ready by the time of a summit in Paris next year. To contact the reporters on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net; Lisa Lerer in Washington at llerer@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at skomarow1@bloomberg.net Joe Sobczyk, Michael Shepard bloomberg.com