Expectations are High for President-Elect Obama’s Sustainability Policies
On election night, then-Senator Obama called ours a planet in peril. As he did during the campaign, he focused on promises to fight global warning and reduce dependence on foreign oil. Once inaugurated, how might he proceed to fulfill these promises, and what challenges does he face?
On climate change, expect to see renewed vigor in Congress and the administration for a national carbon cap and trade system. This is an enormously complicated and controversial undertaking, however, so the process may take a lot of time and proceed in fits and starts. One advantage the new administration will have is the luxury of watching and learning from the cap-and-trade programs being implemented now by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Western Climate Initiative.
In the more immediate term, we can anticipate that President Obama will direct the EPA to begin regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. EPA’s authority to do so was confirmed by the Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA but the Bush administration has declined to do so. Obama also will likely advocate for Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (“CAFÉ”) for the transportation sector, and to reverse the Bush administration’s opposition to a Clean Air Act waiver for California’s plan to impose stricter vehicle emissions standards. Finally, we probably will see increased participation in international climate change negotiations, including the 2009 discussions in Copenhagen to renew and modify the Kyoto Protocols.
In our next post we will discuss President-Elect Obama’s likely approach to energy efficiency and independence.
Post authored by David Petersen, partner practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Practice Groups.
