Who will lead for Obama on carbon and clean energy policy?
Dec 11 - McClatchy/Tribune
As a stalemated Congress shies away from taking serious action on
climate change, environmentalists are focusing on potential Cabinet
openings at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of
Energy that could further their efforts.
If the top jobs at the agencies open up as expected at the beginning
of President Barack Obama's second term, the new leaders would step into
the spotlight at a critical time. Recent scientific reports warn that
polar ice sheets are melting at a rate three times faster than in the
1990s and methane emissions from melting permafrost could dramatically
accelerate global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change's next report, due in 2013, will likely add to evidence that
carbon emissions are causing Earth's climate to warm.
The EPA docket is already crowded with key environmental issues. The
agency is expected to consider new regulations for coal-fired plants,
smog and the controversial drilling process known as hydraulic
fracturing. It also could weigh in on the Keystone XL pipeline.
The Energy Department, meanwhile, is trying to decide how to foster
the nascent clean energy industry amid the political minefield left by
the scandal over Solyndra, a failed solar company that received federal
funding. A new energy secretary would have to be adept at fielding
political questions and making the most of a much smaller pool of loans
for renewable energy.
Neither EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson nor Energy Secretary Steven
Chu has announced plans to leave, but Jackson is rumored to be on her
way out, likely to return to her home state of New Jersey. Chu, having
been put through the wringer during the Solyndra failure, is expected to
go back to research and academic work in California.
Environmental groups are already preparing wish lists of potential
successors, although it's still too early to know what the White House
is thinking.
For the EPA, most expect an internal hire like deputy administrator
Bob Perciasepe or Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for the Office
of Air and Radiation. The Department of Energy seems more likely to
recruit an outsider, with former Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota,
former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm or Duke Energy CEO and President
Jim Rogers, who will retire at the end of next year, among the groups'
top choices.
InsideClimate News talked to a half dozen organizations about what
they see on the horizon for the two agencies and how the leading
candidates might steer the White House towards more serious climate
work.
"Climate change is an issue that the president has said is important
and that he should see as part of his legacy," said Nat Keohane, vice
president of the Environmental Defense Fund. "If there's any meaning to
that, he's now got four more years to cement that legacy. ... This is
the next big thing on his plate and this is part of his legacy."
In Obama's first term, the EPA was the largest -- and at times only
-- driver of serious environmental work, although some green groups
complain it could have moved faster and stronger. With a stack of
unfinished and scheduled rules, environmentalists say the agency's
agenda is likely set, although there's still room for it to get more
aggressive.
"Despite some of the negative rhetoric directed at them, EPA has for
the most part been doing what they're required to do by law," said Manik
Roy, vice president of strategic outreach for the Center for Climate and
Energy Solutions. "I'm not sure it's going to be all that different than
it was during the first term. They'll do what was required under law and
when they don't, people will sue to make it happen."
The agency's biggest achievement in Obama's first term was the
passage of fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles through model
year 2025, which are expected to slash 6 billion metric tons, greenhouse
gas emissions from the atmosphere.
But two other significant rules saw delays, including long-awaited
regulations that would limit greenhouse gas emissions from new power
plants. The draft rule was released in March 2012.
In 2011, the administration delayed implementation of a rule limiting
ground-level smog until 2013, a move that irked environmentalists -- and
reportedly Jackson herself -- who say the rule is necessary for
protecting public health. Most expect the review of the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards for Ozone to be revived early in the second term,
despite concerns about its high cost.
Greenhouse gas regulations for existing large power plants are also
likely to be released, even though they will face even more opposition
from industry.
Other EPA regulations that are set to be finalized include rules that
would limit emissions from industrial boilers, reduce particulate matter
and regulate cement makers. A report on the impacts of hydraulic
fracturing on water, due in 2013, could lead to new regulations for the
controversial process amid a national boom in natural gas production.
These regulations are more likely to be the crux of the government's
environmental work than any broad legislative proposals, said Daniel
Weiss, a senior fellow for energy and environment at the Center for
American Progress.
"When asked about global warming, the president has said we have to
work on the economy first," Weiss said. "That reflects this idea that
they'll use non-legislative tools and focus on existing authority
through the EPA. They've got a lot of unfinished business."
Many of the green groups would like the agency to be more aggressive
now that it has been freed from election-year pressures.
That worries Nicolas Loris, an energy economist with the Heritage
Foundation, a conservative think tank that has railed against the EPA
rules.
"The incentives to cater to the economy and industry are gone," Loris
said. "That could mean stronger regulations ... that are economically
damaging. Some of the ones they've proposed are already the most
stringent and unprecedented."
Last week the Natural Resources Defense Council issued a plan for EPA
to use the Clean Air Act to impose tougher greenhouse gas emission
standards on existing polluters that it said could cut carbon pollution
by 26 percent by 2020. In a news release, NRDC executive director Peter
Lehner said the plan -- which would set state-specific regulations
rather than a national target -- shows "how the United States can make
big reductions in carbon pollution that drive climate change."
With the agency's path largely set, most agree that Jackson's
replacement would likely come from within the agency, so the agency can
continue its work with minimal disruption.
One of the most commonly mentioned names was Perciasepe, the EPA's
current deputy administrator. As Jackson's second-in-command, Perciasepe
was deeply involved in the agency's work during Obama's first term,
including representing the agency several times in Congressional
hearings. He also headed up the EPA's water and air quality departments
under President Clinton and previously served as chief operating officer
for the Audubon Society.
Also mentioned was McCarthy, assistant administrator for the Office
of Air and Radiation, who led the drafting of the EPA's air quality
regulations, including the greenhouse gas and fuel economy rules.
"They've been focused on trying to make efforts to reduce the threat
of pollution during a severe economic downturn," Weiss said. "That's
going to continue."
Another choice would be Mary Nichols, head of the California Air
Resources Board. Nichols has managed the buildup to California's
cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions and has been praised
for making the Golden State a worldwide leader in environmental work.
But Nichols could face fierce opposition from the business community
that sees cap and trade as an economic impediment. And some supporters
say she might not even be interested in the job.
"To the extent that she wants to be in a position of global
leadership on climate change, California has that right now," said Roy
of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. "EPA isn't working to
the extent that California is right now and it's hard for me to see her
leaving without a greater mandate."
The Department of Energy, buoyed by $90 billion in economic stimulus
money set aside for clean energy programs, expanded its scope in Obama's
first term beyond its traditional research and development role.
But its work in clean energy financing also opened the department to
accusations of cronyism from the right, topped by the Solyndra scandal.
Republicans launched several Congressional investigations into the
loans, had Chu testify before the House Oversight Committee and put the
loan programs on the chopping block in House budgets.
Most agree that the new DOE secretary will need to have more
political chops than Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, in order to
withstand congressional investigations and negotiate with lawmakers to
preserve funding for its clean energy investments. The green groups say
the new secretary will have vast power to shape how the administration
promotes clean energy.
"A lot of what happens at DOE depends on who the secretary is going
to be," said CAP's Weiss.
Topping most lists is Dorgan, a Democrat who served on the Energy and
Natural Resources Committee and chaired the budget subcommittee
overseeing the Energy Department. In the Senate, Dorgan had a reputation
for working across the aisle and was a champion of clean energy,
although he also supported measures that would help his home state's oil
and natural gas drilling industries.
Granholm would also bring political heft to the department, although
her liberal leanings and her talk show on the progressive channel
CurrentTV would make her a tough sell to Republicans. In two terms in
the Michigan statehouse, Granholm made clean energy a priority. She
attracted solar, wind and electric vehicle companies to the state to
replace lost automotive jobs and oversaw passage of a Renewable
Portfolio Standard mandating that 10 percent of the state's electricity
come from renewable sources by 2015.
Other possible candidates include Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire,
who has promoted renewable and nuclear energy in her home state, and
John Podesta, former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton and CAP's
current chair.
Weiss said it's also possible that Obama could select someone with
business experience to head the department, a move that would signal the
administration's intention to work with the electricity and industrial
sector.
Several groups mentioned Rogers of Duke Energy as a possibility,
given his close ties to the White House. Rogers, who recently announced
his intention to leave the Charlotte, N.C., company in 2013, co-chaired
the Democratic National Convention and has been a booster for Obama's
renewable energy initiatives.
Whoever gets the job will have to deal effectively with Congress and
the White House budget authors, who ultimately will determine how much
money the department will have available to invest in renewables.
"I can't imagine an expansion of any kind of a loan guarantee
program," said Loris of the Heritage Foundation. "Given our fiscal
situation and some dissent about what the role of DOE is, I think that's
an area that could be ripe for spending cuts."
David Foster, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, doesn't
see the agency moving away from clean energy investments, given that
clean energy has been "a powerful piece of the administration's success
story."
But EDF's Keohane said there's plenty of room for the Energy
Department to maneuver outside of the loan programs. The agency could
continue to push energy efficiency standards for appliances or in the
electric industry. It could also help craft rules and provide technical
assistance as more states and localities eye smart grid technology.
If the loan program is slashed, Roy at the Center of Climate and
Energy Solutions, expects the agency to focus on highlighting some of
its successful loans and use them as a model to help make clean
technology commercially feasible.
"The point of investing in a solar or an electric vehicle plant is
not to help one plant advance, it's to get the technology further down
the learning curve and cost curve," Roy said.
The agency also could focus on R&D through its national labs and the
popular Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, which
supports high-risk energy technology projects.
Under the right leadership, Roy said, the Energy Department can play
an important role for the White House by promoting both its climate and
its economic messages.
"Can we get back to a point where the administration is arguing about
the importance of clean energy? That's going to drive things as much as
anything," Roy said. "There's room to talk more robustly about the
economic future and the role of clean energy. We need to see a return to
that."
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