| President Barack Obama is heating up his efforts on climate change, with decisions that have some Democrats in Congress starting to sweat. The announcement Friday that Obama is pushing back his appearance at the Copenhagen summit to its final weekend, the critical negotiating period, signals a willingness to pour significant political capital into his climate agenda – and raises expectations that the White House will reach agreements both internationally and at home. The impact of the scheduling change is magnified by expectations that the Environmental Protection Agency will finalize a key move toward regulating greenhouse gases, with the final release of its endangerment finding expected as soon as Monday. “There’s no question that this is a game changer,” said Carter Roberts, president of the World Wildlife Fund. “It’s huge, it’s important, and it’s logical given the momentum that’s developing around the world and in next the two weeks.” The moves have cheered environmentalists worldwide, who in closed door conversations had previously admitted some frustration with what they saw as a lack of public action by the White House on its climate agenda. “Having decided to join dozens of other world leaders in the right place, at the right time, President Obama is now reinvigorating the U.S. approach to the climate talks at this defining moment in history,” said Oxfam spokesperson Antonio Hill. And they’re putting new pressure on the Senate, which has stalled in its efforts to pass a cap and trade bill amid skepticism from coal, manufacturing, and rural state Democrats. Any international agreement to curb greenhouse gases would need Congress passing legislation capping emissions in the U.S., the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas polluter, after China. “The road to Copenhagen goes through the U.S. Senate,” said Peter Goldmark, the head of the climate and air program for the Environmental Defense Fund. The White House said Friday that Obama would travel to Copenhagen at the end of international climate talks, rather than in the first week of the talks, as originally planned. The change in schedule is a strong sign of confidence by the administration that they will reach a political agreement in Copenhagen – and that they want to take credit for leading the process. “Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the President believes that continued US leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference,” said the White House in a statement. Typically, major decisions at international climate forums come during the last weekend of the conference. Nearly 100 world leaders plan to attend the Copenhagen talks, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The original plan for Obama attend in the middle of the first week would have allowed the White House to demonstrate an American commitment to curbing greenhouse gases while putting it a distance from the conference if negotiators fail to reach agreement by its end. Now, much of the deal is on his shoulders. “They’re going to be faced with the question of whether they really did something or did we just have a bunch of press conferences and claim victory at the end, which is generally what happens at these meetings,” said Frank Maisano, an energy specialist at the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, which lobbies for utilities and coal interests. But the concessions that will be necessary to get an international agreement could be risky domestically. A deal in Copenhagen will require the United States to commit billions of dollars to help developing nations deal with the severe storms, droughts, and other destructive impacts of global warming. On Friday, the White House promised to pay “its fair share” of the $10 billion annual payment to poorer countries. That could be a tough sell domestically, given the country’s’ high unemployment numbers, mounting debt, and deep economic recession. “I’m surprised the president would commit our nation to billions in new and long-term spending, particularly in a year that has seen our government rack up a record deficit, and before our economy is back on track,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, (R-Alaska), the highest ranking Republican member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee. “My home state of Alaska literally has villages falling into the ocean – where’s the support for the people in our own country being affected by climate change?” The scheduling decision comes as advocates and lawmakers prepare for the expected release next week of the Environmental Protection Agency’s endangerment finding that will formally announce that greenhouse gases are a danger to human health and welfare. The decision opens the door for the agency to begin regulating emissions across the economy by imposing new rules on auto manufacturers, utilities, and other industrial polluters. The finding puts new pressure on Congress to pass climate change legislation that would preempt the new regulations before the EPA begins acting. It also raises the stakes for the Administration and for moderate Democrats. The only other ways to stop the EPA from regulating, say experts, is with a lawsuit or for Congress to vote to defund the EPA. If climate change legislation fails to pass and a lawsuit doesn’t stop the new rules, manufacturing and coal state Democrats could find themselves stuck between attacks that they are hurting hometown economies and defunding a key White House initiative. “The Administration appears to be playing for keeps here,” said Kevin Book, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners. | |
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