Weekley Climate Change Policy Update - April 13, 2009
Article by Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Kevin
Gallagher, Megan Ceronsky and Tomás
Carbonell
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Commentary
This week provides news that officials from the Obama
Administration are reaching out to Democratic Senators comprising
the moderate "Gang of 16." It is perhaps not a
coincidence that there is also news this week that the President
continues to make small steps away from his absolute 100%-auction
position on distributing allowances . . . The Bonn international
negotiating sessions closed, as expected, without a major
breakthrough. However, negotiators continue to discuss formulations
by which key developing countries could adopt some pathway to
emission limits . . . Rep. Doyle of Pennsylvania, a key moderate
Democrat on the Subcommittee on Energy & Environment, predicts
that deliberations on the Waxman-Markey bill will focus on
renewable electricity standards, emission targets, and allowance
allocation . . . State officials from California and the RGGI
states assert that they are OK with the Waxman-Markey draft's
preemption provisions.
Executive Branch
Administration Negotiating Allowance Allocations With
Congressional Leadership. The White House has engaged
Congressional leaders in a discussion of how emission allowances
should be allocated in a cap-and-trade program, a critical issue
left unaddressed in the Waxman-Markey draft climate legislation
released last week. Joe Aldy, an aide in the Executive Office of
the President, stated that using allowance revenues to assist
"vulnerable households and communities and businesses"
was a Presidential priority in these negotiations. Aldy also noted
that the White House had "reached out" over the last few
weeks to the moderate Senate Democrats known as the "Gang of
16," whose votes would be crucial in overcoming an anticipated
Republican filibuster of climate legislation. Separately, White
House science advisor John Holdren indicated that President Obama
would consider compromising on his original proposal to fully
auction all allowances under a cap-and-trade program.
President Says Developed Countries Must Lead on Climate
Change. During a town hall meeting in Strasbourg, France,
President Obama said that "the effects of climate change are
now in plain sight" and that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
are "slowly killing our planet." Although the President
urged major countries including China and India to "do
more" to curb GHG emissions, he emphasized that developed
countries such as the United States have the responsibility to take
the lead. The President said: "You cannot expect poor
countries, or relatively poor countries, to be partners with us on
climate change if we are not taking the lead, given that our carbon
footprint is many times more than theirs per capita."
Administration Nominations and Appointments.
President Obama nominated Charles Hurley, the CEO of Mothers
Against Drunk Driving, to serve as Administrator of the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the agency that sets
Federal fuel economy standards. An automobile safety advocate,
Hurley once held a position at the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety, an organization that has opposed higher fuel economy
standards. The White House also announced that it would nominate
Peter Rogoff, a 22-year veteran of the Senate Appropriations
Committee staff, to serve as Administrator of the Federal Transit
Administration. Rogoff was Staff Director of the Transportation,
Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee for fourteen
years. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar appointed Ned Farquhar, a
former advisor on energy and environmental issues to New Mexico
Gov. Bill Richardson, to the post of Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Land and Minerals Management. Farquhar, whose new position does not
require Senate confirmation, will oversee the Bureau of Land
Management, Minerals Management Service, and Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Lastly, Martha Johnson will be
nominated to lead the General Services Administration, where she
will oversee the expenditure of approximately $4.8 billion in
stimulus funds designated for improving the energy efficiency of
Federal buildings and the motor vehicle fleet.
Interior Department and FERC Execute Offshore Leasing
Agreement. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
and the Department of Interior have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) settling a long-standing jurisdictional dispute
over responsibility for siting and licensing renewable energy
projects on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of the United States.
The new arrangement will give the Minerals Management Service (MMS)
exclusive jurisdiction over wind and solar generation projects, and
associated transmission facilities, located on the OCS. The MMS
will also administer necessary property rights (leases, easements,
and rights-of-way) for wave, tidal, and ocean thermal energy
projects, but leave the environmental review and licensing of those
projects to FERC. FERC and MMS will both have authority to inspect
offshore wave, tidal, and ocean thermal facilities for compliance
with lease and license conditions. The agreement is expected to
resolve administrative uncertainty and delays that have posed a key
obstacle to offshore renewable energy development. The MOU can be
accessed at...
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