Washington (Platts)--24Jan2013/1237 pm EST/1737 GMT

Conceding that any climate change legislative efforts would face overwhelming opposition in Congress, the authors of one of the most high-profile climate change bills are now pinning their hopes on administrative action from President Barack Obama.

"Congress has not been interested in acting, particularly in the House, in the last two years, so we're calling on the president to develop a plan for the administration to take action without Congress and he has an enormous amount of authority to do that," Representative Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, said at a press conference Thursday. "That may well spur Congress to act... but we cannot just sit back and wait for something to happen."

Instead, Waxman and Representative Edward Markey, Democrat-Massachusetts, want the administration to push for stricter emissions regulations on everything from power plants to automobiles.

Article continues below...

Request a free trial of: Inside Energy
	Inside Energy and its companion, Inside EnergyEXTRA, bring you reporting on energy policy developments in the U.S. government and how policy decisions and implementation impact the production, delivery, and use of energy resources. Content includes oil, natural gas, electricity, coal, nuclear energy, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Inside Energy has covered U.S. energy policy for more than 30 years, and our team of veteran editors and reporters offers insight unsurpassed in the industry.

Waxman and Markey authored the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. That bill, also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill, called for an emissions trading scheme, similar to the trading system set up in the European Union. The bill narrowly passed the House, but was defeated in the Senate.

Since that bill's defeat, and the Republican takeover of the House, legislative action on climate change has proved far more difficult. The House has voted 53 times to block action on climate change and Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have ignored repeated requests from Waxman and other Democrats to hold hearings on climate change. Waxman is the top Democrat on the committee.

Waxman said Thursday that Obama's call for climate-change action in his inaugural address on Monday may spark climate change actions which have been stymied by Congress for years.

In a letter to Obama Friday, Waxman, Markey and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat-Rhode Island, urged the president to "develop a comprehensive climate change plan as expeditiously as possible," by taking a series of executive actions.

They wrote that Obama should direct federal agencies to take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 17% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade, accelerate federal investments in clean-energy technology and develop a new strategy to implement climate change protections.

NO REPUBLICAN INTEREST

While the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new greenhouse gas standards for power plants and new limits on emissions from cars and light trucks a "much more aggressive plan of action is needed," Waxman, Markey and Whitehouse wrote.

"The Administration has broad authorities to lower heat-trapping emissions, to spur research and development in clean energy, and to develop adaptation strategies," they wrote.

The lawmakers wrote that the EPA could set new emission standards, the Department of Energy could set tighter energy efficiency standards and federal agencies could work together on new limits on methane and black carbon pollution, they wrote.

"We have to have all options on the table," Whitehouse said Thursday at a press conference with Waxman to announce a new bicameral climate change task force.

While the task force is bicameral, it is not yet bipartisan. No Republicans in the House or Senate have expressed interest in the effort yet, Waxman said. Several high profile Republicans have also indicated this week that while they expect more climate change-related regulations to come from the White House, they would likely not back any climate change legislation.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told reporters Wednesday that she would not support any legislation which would cause energy prices to increase. She said she also was opposed to any administrative actions directed at climate change.

"I don't like that, I'll be very honest with you, if we are directing climate policy I think that needs to be done through legislation, not kind of the backdoor route of regulation," the Alaska Republican said.

Representative Ed Whitfield, a Kentucky Republican and the chairman of the House subcommittee on Energy and Power, told reporters Tuesday that he does not even support the argument that emissions from power plants and automobiles are even contributing to global warming. In addition, he said the issue is not a priority for voters and one he said should not be pursued.

"Most people do not view climate change as one of those urgent issues," Whitfield said. "There are a lot of other issues more important in my view, like energy independence and so forth. I think the president understands that."

--Brian Scheid, brian_scheid@platts.com
--Edited by Richard Rubin, richard_rubin@platts.com

Tweet