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Piper Corp
Science Policy Analyst
Ecological Society of America
1990 M Street NW, Suite 700
Washington DC 20036
(202)833-8773 ext 224
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
ESA Policy News Update November 6, 2008
POST-ELECTION SPECIAL EDITION
THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION: WHAT OBAMA'S WIN MEANS FOR ENERGY AND THE
ENVIRONMENT
THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION: WHERE OBAMA STANDS ON ESA PRIORITIES
REGULATIONS: ECONOMIC CRISIS SPURS INCREASED REGULATION WHILE
UNDERMINING GOVERNMENT'S ABILITY TO FINANCE ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL
REFORMS
THE ECONOMY: WILL ECONOMIC CRISIS DIVERT ATTENTION, FUNDING FROM CLIMATE
CHANGE INITIATIVES?
CONGRESS: SENATE DEMOCRATS NOW HOLD 57 SEATS, 3 RACES TOO CLOSE TO CALL
==================================================================
THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION: WHAT OBAMA'S WIN MEANS FOR ENERGY AND THE
ENVIRONMENT
Throughout his campaign, President-elect Barack Obama has
consistently highlighted the importance and immediacy of government action on
energy and the environment. He followed in suit during his Chicago victory
speech, identifying the economic crisis and climate change as the greatest
challenges facing Americans and linking his energy policies with plans to
stimulate the economy.
The upcoming administration and Congress plan respond to the
economic and energy crises with the following initiatives:
-Cap-and-trade legislation: Many experts are looking to the next
administration for leadership in the passage of cap-and-trade legislation.
Obama's cap-and-trade plan is aimed at reducing carbon emissions to 80% below
1990 levels by 2050 and requires that all permits be auctioned off. Proceeds
from the auctions would be invested in clean-energy projects, habitat
protection, and transition relief measures such as rebates for families.
-An additional economic stimulus package: To mitigate the current
economic crisis, many democratic lawmakers are in favor of an additional
economic stimulus package that would create jobs by financing new energy
policies and infrastructural development. Prominent initiatives include:
weatherizing buildings, modernizing the electric grid, rebuilding mass-transit
systems, and funding renewable energy projects. During his campaign, Obama
pledged to create 5 million jobs over the next ten years by investing $15
billion annually in the development and deployment of renewable energy
technologies.
Meanwhile, Obama will spend the 76 days before inauguration
preparing his new government. His administration will likely reshape the
government to tackle climate and energy issues, expanding and integrating top
posts in the White House and across the various agencies that deal with
climate, energy, and other environmental issues. This could include the
creation of new councils, such as a National Energy Council (similar to the
existing National Economic Council,) and positions, such as a new Treasury
undersecretary post to handle the creation and operation of carbon markets, or
a climate-focused czar to represent the U.S. in major climate negotiations.
Former Vice President Al Gore has been mentioned as a possible candidate for
the latter position, although the Nobel Prize winner has repeatedly told
reporters he is not interested in returning to the government.
Helping Obama prepare are two key experts on energy and the
environment, both previous Clinton appointees: former EPA Administrator Carol
Browner, and former Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes. Obama has already
selected Representative Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) as his chief of staff, but will
likely wait to name key Cabinet-level appointees until late November, after he
has named his economic team and his secretaries of State and Defense.
Several sources close to the Obama campaign say the
president-elect is looking to select someone of high-profile as his Secretary
of Energy and a more state-specific expert to lead EPA. The names mentioned to
head Department of Energy include two-term Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D)
and two-term California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R).
Rendell told a Pennsylvania television station earlier this year
that he would be interested in serving in Obama's Cabinet, particularly as
secretary of Energy or Transportation, but that he would first want to finish
his term, which runs through 2010.
Schwarzenegger would bring experience in implementing a variety
of progressive climate and energy policies, although his status as a celebrity
could either act as a distraction from the Obama presidency or draw additional
attention to energy issues. Similarly, although he campaigned for GOP
presidential nominee John McCain as recently as the weekend before the
election, Schwarzenegger's Republican affiliation could support Obama's goal of
bipartisanship.
Potential picks for the head of the EPA include:
* Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and
Policy Center in Chicago
* Mary Nichols, a Schwarzenegger appointee leading the California
Air Resources Board
* Lisa Jackson, the first African American woman to be named
director of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, who now serves
as chief of staff for Governor Jon Corzine (D)
* Brad Campbell, former chief of New Jersey's Department of
Environmental Protection
* Kathleen McGinty, former Pennsylvania environment secretary
* Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute
* Ian Bowles, head of the Massachusetts Executive Office of
Energy and Environmental Affairs
Besides Learner and Lash, all of the individuals mentioned above
served under Clinton.
For the Council on Environmental Quality, Learner, Hayes and
McGinty have been mentioned as candidates to replace Jim Connaughton, Bush's
chairman for the last eight years.
Possible front-runners to head the Interior Department include
just-reelected Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (D), Representative Jay Inslee
(D-WA), and former Clinton-era Interior Solicitor General John Leshy, who is
now a professor at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law.
THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION: WHERE OBAMA STANDS ON ESA PRIORITIES
Climate change, because of its close connection with the energy
debate, is currently the most prominent environmental issue in Washington. The
Ecological Society of America's Public Affairs Committee has identified several
other environmental priorities, however, which the Society plans to promote
throughout the coming year. In addition to climate change, these priorities
include science education, energy development, water quality and quantity, and
endangered species protection.
Here is how Obama plans to approach each of these areas:
Science Education:
* Fund scholarship programs to recruit new science teachers
* Institute professional development programs for teachers at all
levels
* Support state efforts to prioritize early-childhood science
education
* Improve coordination of science education efforts
* Improve scientific assessments to promote higher order thinking
skills that pertain to scientific inquiry
Energy Development: Invest $150 billion over the next decade in
alternative energy projects and the creation of green jobs, with an emphasis on
cellulosic ethanol, wind turbines, solar technology, clean coal/clean carbon
capture technology, and fuel-efficient cars. Obama has also stated that while
nuclear energy projects must be considered as part of any plan for energy
independence and emissions control, nuclear power should only be considered a
viable area for expansion after cost, safety, waste disposal, and proliferation
risks have been addressed.
Water Quality and Quantity:
* Improve collaboration between the government and the public
* Set prices and policies to provide incentives for efficient
water use
* Provide farms and businesses with training and/or economic
assistance to improve the efficiency of water practices
* Establish a national plan to help high-growth regions manage
their water supplies
* Undertake a research and development program for technologies
that reduce water use
Endangered Species: In an August 2008 statement, Obama's campaign
stated that if elected, the Senator would throw out the Bush Administration
proposal to limit the Endangered Species Act by allowing federal agencies to
bypass scientific review when deciding whether or not their projects would
threaten endangered species.
REGULATIONS: ECONOMIC CRISIS SPURS INCREASED REGULATION WHILE
UNDERMINING GOVERNMENT'S ABILITY TO FINANCE ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL
REFORMS
The "era of deregulation," which began during the Reagan
presidency, has limited government intervention wherever possible. In the face
of the current economic crisis, though, scholars on both sides of the
regulation debate have noted a shift towards more regulation, particularly in
the financial and environmental sectors. But while the U.S. banking and housing
meltdown is driving the demand for more monitoring, it may also dampen the
government's capacity to pay for reforms.
Murray Weidenbaum, who served for two years as chairman of
President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, has suggested that the U.S. is
in the midst of a new wave of environmental regulation, pointing to the
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recent toughening of national standards
for airborne lead-the standards' first revision in 30 years-as a sign of things
to come. He also highlighted climate change as an area with great potential for
new regulation, particularly in the form of a cap-and-trade system, which
President-elect Barack Obama has long supported.
Until the economy rebounds, however, the government will likely
be under pressure to minimize spending. The new Congress will face large
deficits that may make it impossible to expand regulatory efforts, no matter
how strongly supported they are.
Bruce Yandle, who was executive director of the Federal Trade
Commission during the Reagan administration, suggests that once the economy
rebounds, conditions will be right for reforming the U.S. approach to
regulation. While incomes decline, however, he says the public will likely view
environmental activity as a luxury.
Meanwhile, the Bush Administration is attempting to push through
a variety of last minute rules, such as the easement of power plant pollution
limits and the elimination of required environmental impact statements in
fisheries management decisions, in order to maintain deregulation in the years
to come. According to Obama aides, the president-elect plans to closely review
these last-minute changes early in his term. In a September hearing, Senator
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said she was drafting a "roadmap" for the next
administration and Congress to reverse some of the changes, such as those
currently being made to the Endangered Species Act.
Obama also plans to sign an executive order granting California's
long-standing request for an EPA waiver that would allow it to enforce
greenhouse gas standards on automobiles, a request that Bush officials
previously rejected.
Experts suggest that the new Congress and administration will
increase regulation through largely market-based reforms, which should
alleviate some of the concerns from those still in favor of deregulation. Obama
plans to take a hard stance on carbon dioxide emissions, however, and may
instruct EPA to use the 1990 Clean Air act to set emission limits for
manufacturers and power plants. While many experts agree that Congress is the
best forum in which to reconcile industry and environmental interests, Obama's
advisers have indicated that although the President-elect will encourage a
legislative approach to controlling emissions, he will strongly consider
regulatory measures if Congress is unable to pass legislation quickly.
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, said this kind of decisive action from the U.S. would help
clear the current deadlock in United Nations talks over how to combat climate
change. Negotiators from nearly 200 countries will convene in December at a
U.N. conference in Poland to discuss limiting global carbon dioxide emissions.
The talks are aimed at reaching an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol by
next year. Although the U.S. needn't have its new emission control measures in
place by that time, experts agree that the country must be able to present a
viable plan.
THE ECONOMY: WILL ECONOMIC CRISIS DIVERT ATTENTION, FUNDING FROM
CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVES?
In a New York Public Library event, a panel of leading economists
agreed that massive government spending will be necessary to stave off a
devastating recession next year. They advised that while recession in 2009 is
unavoidable, the U.S. can rebound and thrive if the Obama administration and
the new Congress are able to institute a "major, massive public rebuilding" and
a widespread reversal of the current deregulatory ideology.
The economists, investment banker Felix Rohatyn, Columbia
University scholar Jeffrey Sachs, and New York University economics professor
Nouriel Roubini, described a country in panic, where banks are afraid to make
loans, consumers and businesses are afraid to spend, and markets lack
confidence in the current administration's ability to fix matters. The panel
was therefore doubtful that much progress would be made prior to Obama's
inauguration on January 20. Even then, they say, the Obama administration and
Congress will have to work together on another economic stimulus package that
will entail huge amounts of government spending on projects to create
employment opportunities and put money into consumers' pockets. In particular,
the economists highlighted renewable energy infrastructure and clean technology
as investments with the best potential for long-term success.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) may attempt to introduce one
such stimulus package during a lame duck session, so long as House Republicans
and the White House are willing. The session, which is slated to begin on
November 17, would focus on passing an expanded version of a package previously
approved by the House. This package would invest approximately $30 billion in
infrastructure development and the creation of construction jobs; it could
include a few environmental initiatives such as water projects, but clean
energy measures will more likely be a part of an additional stimulus bill in
early 2009.
While stimulus packages may represent the best means of shoring
up the economy, they come at a political price: the panel of economists
suggested that in order to finance the proposed packages, the U.S. government
would need to borrow additional funds, most likely from Asia, and raise taxes
on almost all citizens.
CONGRESS: SENATE DEMOCRATS NOW HOLD 57 SEATS, 3 RACES TOO CLOSE
TO CALL
Democrats were hoping to pick up 9 seats in the Senate, thus
hitting a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority. After the elections, they hold 57
seats, including those of independents Joe Lieberman (CT) and Bernie Sanders
(VT), after the following Democratic candidates won over their Republican
opponents:
* Mark Udall (CO)
* Kay Hagan (NC)
* Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
* Tom Udall (NM)
* Jeff Merkley (OR)
* Mark Warner (VA)
Races in Alaska, Minnesota, and Georgia remain too close to
call-while it is unlikely that Democrats will come out victorious in all of
these contests, many are optimistic that they will end up with a few more
seats.
Counting is still underway in Alaska, where Senator Ted Stevens
(R) is battling for reelection in spite of his recent corruption conviction.
Stevens currently holds a 3,000-vote lead over Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D)
with almost all precincts reporting, but anywhere from 40 to 50 thousand
absentee ballots have yet to be counted.
In Minnesota, all the votes have been tallied, but incumbent Norm
Coleman (R) has only a 571-vote lead over comedian-turned-politician Al Franken
(D). This narrow margin triggers an automatic recount, so the final results may
not be known for some time.
Georgia's Senate race will likely not be resolved for almost a
month. Georgia requires senators to be elected by 50 percent plus one vote, a
mark that Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) is currently just below. Although there
are still absentee ballots to be counted, it is unlikely that they will push
Chambliss over 50%. Without the necessary votes, the incumbent will forced into
a December 2nd runoff against challenger Jim Martin (D). The dynamics of this
runoff could be vastly different, however, without a presidential contest at
the top of the ticket.
In 2009, Congress will see more substantial Democratic majorities
in the Senate and House, but also a Republican Party that has lost a
significant number of the moderate lawmakers most likely to work across the
aisle on energy and environmental issues. Without a 60-seat majority, Senate
Democrats will therefore still need to win conservative backing in order to end
the stalemates that impeded efforts to move legislation in 2008-with a
continuation of the energy debate looming, many liberals will look to
Republicans like John McCain (NM), who have consistently been sympathetic
towards climate change initiatives, for the necessary support.
=============================================================================
Sources: Environment and Energy Daily, Greenwire, Politico,
BarackObama.com, CNN.com
Send questions or comments to Piper Corp, Science Policy Analyst,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or Nadine Lymn, ESA Director of Public Affairs, [EMAIL
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