Climate Change Law: Obama Forced to Scale Back His Ambitions

After financial reform and health care reform, the climate control project, one of the major priorities of the American president, has been postponed due to lack of support from the Democratic majority.

In June, Barack Obama exhorted the U.S. Senate to draw lessons from the Gulf oil spill and “embrace clean energy.” “The time is now,” he said. They didn’t hear him. In spite of this “opportunity,” Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid has given up for the moment, lacking the required 60 votes to avoid filibuster. On July 22, he presented a much more modest energy bill.

The postponement of comprehensive reform aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020, as compared with 2005 levels — thanks to a system of CO2 emission credits similar to those in Europe called “cap and trade” — may weaken the position of the United States in negotiations on climate change in Mexico at the end of the year. Reid offered strong assurances that the debate would resume in September, but critics believe that reform, disrupted by congressional elections in November, runs a high risk of remaining in limbo this year or even longer. “Prospects for climate legislation beyond 2010 rest to some degree on Democrats holding onto their majorities,” writes Politico. If Republicans, who count among their ranks a large number of climate change skeptics, perform well in the elections, Obama will be unable to put his stamp on an ambitious reform plan.

The Gulf oil spill at least will have served as the catalyst for a less ambitious energy bill. This plan includes guarantees to finance the cleanup of the Gulf by BP as well as the reinforcement of safety requirements for oil drilling. It also provides for measures that promote natural gas and the creation of “green” jobs. But critics believe that the emphasis placed on the catastrophe in the Gulf has hampered already difficult debates on climate change. Moreover, Obama was unlucky to have made concessions on offshore oil drilling just before the spill in order to convince the opposition to accept substantial reductions in carbon gas emissions. In any case, Republicans are still not disposed to give any ground on the carbon front, arguing that “cap and trade” is a form of “energy tax” that “will kill jobs.” Even the “Brown Dogs,” Democrats representing states dependent on carbon, are against the new plan, which would be imposed on electricity production.

The Clean Air Act in January

The disappointment is significant among ecologists and companies specializing in solar energy, wind power and electric cars. They were counting on the principle of a carbon tax in order to help their own markets take off. The announcement “leaves a giant hole in U.S. energy and climate policy, and the long-term cost to the United States will be enormous,” declared Rafe Pomerance, the president of Clean Air-Cool Planet. Even without this climate bill, the Obama administration will still be able to move forward in January 2011, thanks to the Clean Air Act — the law on air pollution — with requirements for certain companies to begin reporting greenhouse gas emissions. The Clean Air Act allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to impose air-pollution permits on impacted companies.