Election 2012

EPA Moves Cautiously On Pending Regulations, Easing Industry's Fears

EPA is signaling publicly and privately that it will not rush to issue a host of pending air, climate and other rules that it stalled until after the November elections to avoid political attacks on the agency's agenda -- signals that are easing industry fears that following President Obama's re-election EPA would rush to issue a slew of delayed rules. Although industry sources and others expect that the agency will likely meet legally binding deadlines for issuing rules later this...

GOP House Eyes 'Rifle Shot' Efforts To Revise Key Environmental Laws

A key House GOP staffer says lawmakers are eying options for “rifle shot” piecemeal legislative efforts in the 113th Congress to revise major environmental statues including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act to ease regulatory burdens, as observers say comprehensive overhaul of energy and environmental laws is unlikely next year. The incremental approach to amending environmental laws that Republicans have long sought to overhaul will be coupled with ongoing oversight by House committees of EPA policies that GOP...

Obama Win Spurs Industry Debate Over Softer Stance On EPA Regulations

After failing to secure a Republican president or GOP Senate majority by attacking EPA's “job-killing” rules, many industry groups are taking a softer stance on EPA's record while debating whether to try to strike deals with the agency on greenhouse gas (GHG) controls and other policies. Some industry sources argue that Democrats and their supporters are emboldened by the election gains and that the Obama EPA might therefore advance significant rules affecting several sectors, so industries would benefit from negotiating...

California Democrats Face Hurdles Adopting Key Green Chemistry Fees

California Democrats appear to have won new “super-majorities” in the state legislature that would potentially ease their ability to adopt new fees to pay for the state's landmark green chemistry and other environmental programs, though environmentalists say they may struggle to win the fees in part due to likely opposition from more moderate Democrats. The environmentalists say that many Democrats are also reluctant to impose new new fees due to the fragile economic recovery and voter approval of a ballot...

Browner Calls For Strict Fracking Rules

Carol Browner, the former Clinton EPA administrator and Obama energy adviser, is urging the Obama administration in its second term to pursue national hydraulic fracturing standards but to leave enforcement and oversight of those standards to the states. Browner is also calling on the administration to take further regulatory steps to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a view backed by former Bush EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman, who says Republicans should take a fresh look at a market-based approach to...

Following Election, EPA Expected To Quickly Issue Suite Of Delayed Rules

With President Obama winning a second term Nov. 6, EPA is expected to quickly finalize several high-profile and controversial rules that had been delayed by the election -- including its plan to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new power plants, a new air quality standard for particulate matter (PM), a package of air toxic rules for boilers and incinerators, and a separate air rule for cement plants. It is also expected to soon propose a so-called Tier III standard...

Environmentalists Outline Ambitious Agenda For Second Obama Term

Environmentalists are detailing an ambitious agenda for President Obama's second term that includes having EPA finalize its pending greenhouse gas (GHG) standard for power plants and to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, saying Democratic election gains give a mandate for strict policies to protect the climate and reduce fossil fuel use. However, while environmentalists are touting the election gains -- including wins for several Senate candidates they backed in states such as New Mexico, Maine, Montana, Ohio and Florida --...

Roger Martella Presentation

Susan Dudley Paper

 

 

epa2012_2060


Obama Win Boosts Environmentalists As Industry Fights 'Overregulation'

President Barack Obama's election victory over Gov. Mitt Romney (R) is bolstering environmentalists who say the win is a rejection of Republican efforts to block stricter environmental rules and a shift away from fossil fuels, though energy industry groups say little has changed politically and are continuing to oppose “overregulation” by EPA. With the election over, environmentalists are calling on policymakers to address climate change concerns that were highlighted by the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. Obama secured a second...

Bloomberg Backs Obama, Citing EPA Rules

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- the high-profile independent who has criticized both President Obama and his GOP challenger, Gov. Mitt Romney -- is endorsing the president for re-election due in part to his support for EPA efforts to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG), a critical issue in the wake of the recent storm that devastated lower Manhattan and the surrounding region. Bloomberg's endorsement, less than a week before the election, comes as the damage by Hurricane Sandy has once...

Advocates Eye Second Obama Term As Best Chance To Boost SRF Funding

Union and environmental groups say a second Obama term may provide the best political opportunity for Congress to increase its funding of EPA's languishing clean water and drinking water state revolving funds (SRFs), which provide the bulk of federal assistance to states for water infrastructure. During an Oct. 17 press call to mark the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Dave Foster, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, said the issue of funding water infrastructure...

Romney Team Faces Pressure To Reject Bush Alums For EPA, Energy Picks

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) is facing criticism from some Republicans that his transition team, which he created even before the Nov. 6 election, is too heavily populated with environmental policy veterans of prior Bush administrations, raising concerns that should he unseat President Obama next month, he will select Bush alumni for key slots rather than turning to fresh picks to head EPA and other major energy and environmental agencies. "To the extent that Romney has a problem with voters,...

Jackson May Face Push To Stay At EPA To Avoid Second-Term Senate Fight

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson may face pressure from the White House to remain at EPA should President Obama win a second term Nov. 6, in order to avoid a "hellish" Senate confirmation battle, though many sources expect the administrator will leave the agency. The White House will "make every effort to get [Jackson] to stay" because her replacement "will have a hellish confirmation process," given expected continued gridlock on Capitol Hill regardless of the election's outcome, one energy expert says...

Environmental Groups' Memo

National Association Of Counties Oct. 10 Letter

Bipartisan Policy Center Oct. 18 Framework

NAM Urges Lawmakers To Prevent Fiscal Cliff

 

epa2012_1986


GOP Targets 'Imperial' EPA Actions

House Republican leaders are targeting a slew of Obama Administration initiatives, including almost a dozen from EPA, that they say violate the intent of Congress or the Constitution and are stifling job creation -- a list that will likely serve as a road map for measures the GOP plans to target after November's election regardless of who wins the White House. In a report issued by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-VA) office Oct. 23, the GOP points to initiatives...

Suit Seeks EPA Rule Delay Documents

A legal advocacy group is suing EPA in a bid to force the agency to release documents that might prove the organization's claim that the agency is deliberately delaying major rules until after the November election to avoid giving critics a chance to use the rules in campaign attacks. The Landmark Legal Foundation, which describes itself as a “conservative legal advocacy group,” filed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit Oct. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the District...

/index.php?option=com_iwpfile&file=oct2012/epa2012_1975.pdf


Romney Faces Limits Undoing EPA Rules

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney faces significant hurdles to revoke existing EPA power plant rules despite industry pressure to do so if he wins the election, says the chief executive of utility company PPL Corporation -- though Romney could more easily halt still-pending utility rules, such as cooling water intake regulations, discharge standards and coal ash disposal measures. PPL's Bill Spence told reporters Oct. 19 that for recently finalized agency rules, including the maximum achievable control technology air toxics rule...

ConservAmerica Backs GOP Candidates

The Republican group ConservAmerica -- which backs GOP lawmakers with moderate environmental policies -- has announced its 2012 election endorsements, giving its backing to 30 incumbent members of Congress in their reelection bids. The group is not endorsing several prominent GOP candidates that are increasingly targeting EPA's “war on coal” in air, water and other rules for the coal sector that the lawmakers say will impose massive costs and cause coal mines and coal-fired utilities to shutter. The endorsements include...

Citizens' Coalition Pitches 100-Day Energy Plan

A new coalition of environmentalists, public interest groups and other citizen organizations is pitching a 100-day clean energy agenda for the victor in November's presidential election, urging a transition away from all fossil fuels, including natural gas, to tackle climate change, curb water use, boost efficiency and create jobs. The American Clean Energy Agenda coalition ,organized by the Civil Society Institute (CSI) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG), says it is not endorsing either President Obama or GOP challenger Mitt...

Pages

Not a subscriber? Request 30 days free access to exclusive environmental policy reporting.