After years of gridlock on climate change, Obama is about to play his trump card (executive action)

[LuckyTheDog]

Step aside, Keystone XL pipeline. There’s a new, bigger climate battle about to take over Washington.

With Congress in gridlock and climate change deniers still dominating the Republican Party, President Obama will use his executive authority to move forward on the most ambitious anti-global warming initiative of any U.S. president.

On Monday, the administration will announce new carbon pollution standards for the nation’s more than 1,000 power plants which produce 40 percent of the country’s carbon pollution -- making these plants the country’s number one producer of greenhouse gases causing climate change. A New York Times report Thursday said the new rules will call for a decrease of 20 percent of plants’ emissions by 2020, a significant amount.

But like everything in Washington these days, the new rules won’t become final without a major fight, and both sides are preparing for war -- in Congress, in the courts, at the state-level, even at the ballot box.

MORE HERE: http://wonkynewsnerd.com/years-gridlock-climate-change-obama-play-trump-card/

[JaneyVee]

1. There we go. Lead by example.

[Louisiana1976]

2. Hope the administration wins the fight.

[factsarenotfair]

3. Chris Hayes yesterday had a segment on how this will be portrayed as "War on Coal" by

Republicans and really hurt Dem chances in Congress this year. He thinks it will guarantee victory for Mitch McConnell, for example.

[LanternWaste]

4. This is very gratifying to hear...

This is very gratifying to hear... and although it's only a drop in the bucket, it's one of the biggest drops in the bucket we've made to date; hopefully this foreshadows a trend.

[klook]

5. Pay To Pollute?

If this results in a cap-and-trade program (as it certainly will in Republican-controlled states), rather than cutting carbon emissions it will result in power companies paying for the right to continue polluting.

Link to NY Times report: President Said to Be Planning to Use Executive Authority on Carbon Rule

WASHINGTON — President Obama will use his executive authority to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s coal-fired power plants by up to 20 percent, according to people familiar with his plans, which will spur the creation of a state cap-and-trade program forcing industry to pay for the carbon pollution it creates.

Mr. Obama will unveil his plans in a new regulation, written by the Environmental Protection Agency, at the White House on Monday. It would be the strongest action ever taken by an American president to tackle climate change and could become one of the defining elements of Mr. Obama’s legacy.

Cutting carbon emissions by 20 percent — a substantial amount — would be the most important step in the administration’s pledged goal to reduce pollution over the next six years and could eventually shut down hundreds of coal-fired power plants across the country. The regulation would have far more impact on the environment than the Keystone pipeline, which many administration officials consider a political sideshow, and is certain to be met with opposition from Republicans who say that Mr. Obama will be using his executive authority as a back door to force through an inflammatory cap-and-trade policy he could not get through Congress.

People familiar with the rule say that it will set a national limit on carbon pollution from coal plants, but that it will allow each state to come up with its own plan to cut emissions based on a menu of options that include adding wind and solar power, energy-efficiency technology and creating or joining state cap-and-trade programs. Cap-and-trade programs are effectively carbon taxes that place a limit on carbon pollution and create markets for buying and selling government-issued pollution permits. Coal plants are the nation’s largest source of the greenhouse gases that scientists say are the chief cause of global warming.
- source: NY Times, May 28, 2014

[freshwest]

10. Abuse of C&T may not not happen, despite the NYT article saying:

People familiar with the rule say that it will set a national limit on carbon pollution from coal plants, but that it will allow each state to come up with its own plan to cut emissions based on a menu of options that include adding wind and solar power, energy-efficiency technology and creating or joining state cap-and-trade programs.

This may overcome that:

Supreme Court Says Clean Air Trumps State’s Rights in Upholding EPA Rule



In a victory for environmentalists and the Obama administration, the Supreme Court today ruled to uphold the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule set by Obama’s EPA in 2011. The rule requires 28 states to reduce power plant emissions that can negatively affect the air quality in neighboring states. Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion in the case. The Court ruled 6-2 in favor of the rule with Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagen, Roberts and Kennedy joining Ginsburg in supporting the EPA mandate. Justices Anton Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented from the majority, arguing that the court’s decision ”feeds the uncontrolled growth of the administrative state at the expense of government by the people.”

While Thomas and Scalia may support the right of one state’s power plants to pollute downwind states with pollutants that cause respiratory illnesses and increase the risk of heart attacks for the downwind residents, the courts other justices disagreed. The Court majority determined that the EPA rule was a reasonable mandate consistent with the EPA’s mission, and that upholding the rule would improve the air quality for the American people.

The states of Texas, Ohio, and Michigan opposed the ruling. Some companies that operate coal-fired power plants including Xcel Energy and American Electric Power Company, also opposed the court’s decision. Environmentalists and proponents of clean air on the other hand were pleased with the outcome. Fred Krupp, speaking on behalf of the Environmental Defense Fund, applauded the ruling, stating:

The Supreme Court’s decision means that our nation can take the necessary steps to ensure healthier and longer lives for the 240 million Americans at risk from power plant smokestack pollution near and far.

While this particular Supreme Court has not been friendly to proponents of the environment, today’s ruling is not only a victory for environmentalists, but it is a win for all Americans who want better health and cleaner air.

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/04/29/supreme-court-clean-air-trumps-states-rights-upholding-epa-rule.html

to Babylonsister:

http://metamorphosis.democraticunderground.com/10024887141

I'm guardedly optimistic.

[klook]

14. Thanks for the info. (n/t)

[AtheistCrusader]

12. That's ok, because it will cause power from those plants to cost more, giving wind/solar a

competitive edge.

[klook]

15. Hope so. (n/t)

[Jamastiene]

6. I sure hope he wins that fight.

I'm sick of climate change deniers getting their way.

[freshwest]

7. He's had to make executive orders on the environment before, as he did in 2013:

President Obama Issues Executive Order On Climate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110219113

It helped build support. See the range of people listed. None of his work is covered by media, but that represents a strong group that will help.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

13. thanks for adding this and the Clean Air decision

Of course the media doesn't tell us.

Gridlock....house repukes....et al.....

[Uncle Joe]

8. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, LuckyTheDog.

[pancha]

9. I've always hoped

I've always kept a candle lit for Obama on climate change, I just think he's too pragmatic for his own good sometimes.

[calimary]

11. Welcome to DU, pancha!

Glad you're here! Hey, Obama at his "worst" is better than the "best" of the CONS. Think for one instant that a "president romney" would be in any way supportive of this? Or a "president mccain"?

[NealK]

16. I'll believe it when I see it.

And Keystone XL will be approved as soon as the mid term elections are over. Oh an TPP is a done deal.