In last nights SOTU address President Obama made his strongest remarks ever on Climate Change. His remarks show that he is willing to take action on climate change even in the event that republicans obstruct any meaningful progress. We all know that action on climate by this congress is a pipe dream. The Obama administration has many executive actions that they can take without the approval of congress and in fact they have been using many of those actions in their stealth arsenal to make some progress.
After years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own energy future. We produce more oil at home than we have in 15 years. We have doubled the distance our cars will go on a gallon of gas, and the amount of renewable energy we generate from sources like wind and solar – with tens of thousands of good, American jobs to show for it. We produce more natural gas than ever before – and nearly everyone’s energy bill is lower because of it. And over the last four years, our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have actually fallen.
[...]
The good news is, we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.
So what are the executive actions the Obama administration can take now?
The
World Resources Institute recently compiled a
list of actions the Obama administration can take without congressional approval. Because everybody knows that's not going to happen with Boehner and his ilk supported by the dinosaur fossil fuel industry trying to hang on with it's last gasping breath. Here are the key findings from the
WRI
Key Findings
Without new action by the U.S. Administration, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will increase over time. The United States will fail to make the deep emissions reductions needed in coming decades, and will not meet its international commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
The U.S. EPA should immediately pursue “go-getter” emissions reductions from power plants and natural gas systems using its authority under the Clean Air Act. These two sectors represent two of the top opportunities for substantial GHG reductions between now and 2035.
The U.S. Administration should pursue hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) reductions through both the Montreal Protocol process and under its independent Clean Air Act authority. Eliminating HFCs represents the biggest opportunity for GHG emissions reductions behind power plants.
U.S. states should complement federal actions to reduce emissions through state energy efficiency, renewables, transportation, and other actions. States can augment federal reductions.
New federal legislation will eventually be needed, because even go-getter action by federal and state governments will probably fail to achieve the more than 80 percent GHG emissions reductions necessary to fend off the most deleterious impacts of climate change.
They left some important stuff out of the mix so I will augment their list with the following:
. We must put our full strength and cooperation behind the new global Clean Air and Climate Coalition to reduce the short-lived climate pollutants of Black Carbon(soot), methane and ground level Ozone. A strong international push to reduce these short lived pollutants will buy us some time to reduce the much longer living C02.
. We must eliminate subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. If republicans in congress won't go along which is likely than we must restrict oil and gas leases on federal lands. . Oil and gas leases on federal lands are regulated by the Department of Interior.
. We must stop the export of coal from west coast ports. Although US coal use is down, the possibility of exports is keeping the dirty, deadly coal industry hopeful for a renewal. Exports increase the burning and pollution elsewhere which counteracts our reductions here.
. It is imperative that Obama in conjunctive with John Kerry and the State Department stop the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Stopping the pipeline will send a strong message that the US is serious about eliminating our fossil fuel addiction and stopping the unrestricted flow of greenhouse gases which are accelerating climate change.
We all can have a hand in stopping the XL Pipeline. Let's Join the #ForwardOnClimate rally Sunday 2/17 in Washington, DC. See you there!