By Georgetown Public Policy Review Staff
Today, President Barack Obama will outline his plan to combat climate change at Georgetown University on the steps of Old North Hall. Environmentalists and green energy advocates have been waiting for the President to lay out specific proposals ever since he devoted a sizeable amount of his Inaugural and State of the Union addresses to the subject.
At the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland last week, President Obama proclaimed that the United States has “recently doubled our renewable energy from clean sources like wind and solar power… our dangerous carbon emissions have come down. But we know we have to do more — and we will do more.” On Tuesday, the President could put the full weight of his office behind his lofty rhetoric.
The most substantive proposal that the President could lay out is a plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. These plants account for 40 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, the principal agent causing global warming. The Review’s David Thomsen has discussed the likelihood of such an announcement and why it could be a climate change “game changer.”
Other proposals the President could announce include higher efficiency standards for electronic appliances, increased development of renewable energy use on public lands, and new ways to promote resource conservation. He also is likely to direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its regulation of ground-level ozone gas emissions and to issue a final rule on greenhouse gas emissions for new power plants.
Plans to issue new rules on both have been delayed due to political and legal calculations, but the President’s speech may be an opportunity to reframe the issue. In March, GPPR’s Priyanka Sunder outlined a strategy that could have traction – highlighting the economic risks if action on climate change is not taken.
Cooperation and consensus have been at the heart of global action on climate change, but the beat is starting to slow. At Georgetown, President Obama could transform the conversation and make good on his promises to “do more” on this critical issue. With his bold rhetoric, the President has raised the bar of expectations on what he will do to tackle climate change. With today’s speech, he must clear it.
Georgetown Public Policy Review staff will be live tweeting President Obama’s speech. Follow the Review on Twitter, @GPPolicyReview, for up-to-date details on the President’s speech.
Established in 1995, the Georgetown Public Policy Review is the McCourt School of Public Policy’s nonpartisan, graduate student-run publication. Our mission is to provide an outlet for innovative new thinkers and established policymakers to offer perspectives on the politics and policies that shape our nation and our world.