Ben Geman:
President Obama has a chance to craft a second-term legacy on climate change even as the rest of his agenda runs aground in Congress.
Gun control legislation is dead; immigration reform is on life support; and reaching a fiscal deal with Republicans appears to be a long shot.
To make matters worse, what was supposed to be his signature first-term achievement — ObamaCare — is suffering from a disastrous rollout.
But there’s one thing that’s going right for Obama: Executive action on climate change is moving full-speed ahead at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“He may be able to do more through climate change [rules] because the EPA has the authority,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told The Hill on Thursday.The most far-reaching piece of Obama’s climate plan is carbon emission standards for the nation’s fleet of existing power plants, by far the largest single source of industrial carbon emissions. The EPA is also writing standards for new plants.
“I think climate change, immigration reform are both sort of legacy issues,” Blumenthal said. “The measure of his presidency will be whether he has left changes in law and regulation, but also a heightened awareness, which I think he has been doing.”
Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer said the push on climate change through executive action could shape Obama’s legacy — but only to a point.
“There are limits to what it will mean to his presidency,” said Zelizer, who teaches history and public affairs.
One problem facing Obama is that some of the new EPA regulations might not be settled by the time he leaves office.
“[Administrative actions] don’t have the same kind of impact in defining a president as big legislative accomplishments and they are more susceptible to being overturned,” Zelizer said. “The next president can change them. That’s always the problem.”
The president in June told the EPA to release draft federal emissions rules for existing power plants in June 2014 and complete them a year later. Then states would have until mid-2016 to submit plans to the EPA to implement the mandate.
But the coal and power companies are certain to challenge the rules in the courts.
“Even if EPA is able to stay on schedule and sign the final … rule by June of 2015, it is very unlikely that litigation over the rule will be resolved before the President leaves office,” said Jeff Holmstead, a partner at Bracewell & Giuliani who was the top air pollution regulator at the EPA under President George W. Bush.
Holmstead noted that after states submit their plans, the EPA must decide whether to approve or disapprove them.
“At that point, there is likely to be litigation over EPA’s decision,” said Holmstead, whose firm represents power companies that use coal and refiners that oppose EPA regulation, among other clients.
Holmstead predicted there would be “years of litigation” on the existing power plants rules, involving “possibly as many as 50 different lawsuits in every U.S. Circuit Court in the country.”
Only Congress should write laws, but Congress sold us out and now allow Agencies, Judges and the President to write them – there needs to be a reset, but I doubt that will happen.
As I have said many times… he has seen that he cannot govern by legislation, he has instead chosen to rule by regulation. As his term in office approaches it’s legal end, it will be interesting to see if a crisis erupts that he can use as an excuse to maintain control of the country through executive actions and orders. If that happens, we can begin placing blame on Congress as a body, for allowing him to begin circumventing the delicate balance that has been our government from the first days of his first term, when he began appointing czars with the power to make binding regulations without Congressional oversight. And for allowing him to arbitrarily choose which laws to follow and which to disregard… Congress allowed this machine to start up, we’ll see what it takes to stop it.
WHY DON’T HE AND WITH HIS EPA AND IRS AND OTHER WHICH HE OWN,
WHY I REPEAT NOT LEAVE THE BUSISNESS ALONE TO BE FULLY IN CHARGE OF THEIR OWN BUSINESS,
HE DOES EVERY THING TO HURT THIS COUNTRY,
THIS IS ANTI AMERICAN AGAIN AND AGAIN,
AS SOME WOULD SAY LEAVE US ALONE, AND START TO DO YOUR OWN JOB THE AMERICAN WAY,
INSTEAD OF INFILTRATE ANY PERSON COMING FROM OTHER SUSPICIOUS COUNTRIES
SO TO SWARM THIS AMERICA AND CHANGE THE REAL AMERICAN MENTALITY
OVER A GLOBAL UN MENTALITY DESTRUCTIVE TO AMERICA HISTORY OF GREATEST SUPERPOWER,
When Ofraud said in his first term he needed ‘More Time”…. thus his brain dead base agreed and voted him a second term…
What the Ofraud really meant was he did’t do a good enough job of screwing America and the American People in his first term and needed another term to totally Screw America and the American People… In essence…finish the Job…
@ScottinOaklahoma#2…
I believe there is a reason for the faithful expression: “In God We Trust” and this was true with our Founding Fathers…who in fact believed in Natural Law…
There IS however, a definitive REASON why there was NEVER a faithful expression:
“In Government we Trust”
@Bees#3 – Hi Bees – Because Bees, the ideology of the Left has always been to try to stop people from doing want they want to do…(as in partaking in the opportunities available to them by virtue of having individual (God given) freedom and liberties and taking advantage of being fortunate enough to be living in this ”land of opportunity”… this America…
….and “make (Force) people to do things they do not want to do” …through coercion…(ObamaCare is a fine example)
Leftists have it ingrained in their ideology and in their heads that there is so much instability in the world, much of their own creation I might add (and in America particularly) that the only way, in their “world view” to hold it together is by intimidation, or force – whether by action or inaction…of people (or a Party).
This is the exact opposite of Natural Law…which conservatives espouse.
Leftism is in essence “Authoritarian” and also a LIE.
FAITH7
YES RIGHT ON IT, nothing will stop the truth,
and people like you are needed so much and even more now at this time of deception,
BYE
Of course he will govern by Executive Decree.
That is what he promised.
He promised a New World. Okay. Here it is. Endless bureaucratic tangles. Insurance which is not insurance, and is not available anyway. And your old insurance: it is cancelled. And you can’t get new insurance.
So you don’t get health care. See?
It is really simple.
If you ever decide to get health care, it will be through the Unions, since the Unions run the United States of B.O.
After all, the Unions are exempt from ACH.
mathman
you hit on the nail
THE UNIONS run OBAMA and all the decisions
they must be taken out of all the GOVERNMENT employees JOBS ALL OF THEM
they must be out of their power anywhere else PUBLIC, like the school teachers union,
if the citizens want them FOR THEIR JOBS IN OTHER BUSINESS ,
let them have them but no on government jobs,
WHO HAS THE POWER TO DO IT, i think CHRIS CHRISTIE WOULD,
IF HE DOESN’T CHANGE HIS HAT ONCE ELECTED,
RONALD REAGAN WOULD DO IT, WHY NOT MAKE IT AN ELECTION STANDING ON THAT PROMISS,
THE CITIZENS WOULD SEE A GREAT CHANGE IN THE GOVERNMENT BEHAVIOR, AND THE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
ATTITUDES, THEY WOULD BE MORE DEPENDANT ON THE PEOPLE WHO PAY THEM AND CAN TAKE THEM OUT IF THEY DON’T DO THEIR JOBS, AND THE TEACHERS WOULD NO MORE DEPENDING AND TAKING FOR GRANTED THAT THEIR JOBS ARE SOLID AS ROCK WITH THE UNION, EVEN IF THEY DON’T GIVE THE BEST REQUIRED FOR THE CHILDREN,
I KNOW IT WOULD CREATE A WAR WITH THE THUGS UNTIL THEY GET IT THAT THE PEOPLE MEAN IT,