Will President Obama deliver climate action we can believe in? Here’s a look at what local government leaders can hope for – and how they can help shape his administration’s climate and energy plans

Nov. 12, 2008
By Don Knapp, ICLEI Communications Officer

A new day has dawned, and already it’s a busy one. Among clean energy and climate protection advocates, the swirl of speculation, anticipation, and sheer giddiness could power a wind farm: What will be President-elect Obama’s priorities? Will he advocate for clean-energy legislation first, or will he tackle cap-and-trade? Can he bolster the economy through a stimulus package that creates green jobs?

Another key question, largely absent from this discourse, is, How will he support the climate and sustainability initiatives that local governments have pioneered?

No one has a crystal ball, but ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA and its partner Climate Communities have developed a sense of what actions lie within the realm of possibility over the coming months.

“A new president and Congress provide exciting opportunities for not only strong federal climate action, but for improving the livability and sustainability of our cities and towns,” says ICLEI USA Executive Director Michelle Wyman. “ICLEI USA and its local government members are working to let federal leaders know what our priorities are, and to remind them that we’re on the front lines of climate and sustainability actions. It’s imperative that we make our voices heard in the next few months.”

Obama’s Vision on Energy and Climate

On the campaign trail, Obama set forth a bold agenda on climate protection, clean energy, and urban sustainability. “To completely revamp how we use energy in a way that deals with climate change, deals with national security, and drives our economy, that’s going to be my number-one priority when I get into office,” said Obama in a recent Time interview.

A few of the major goals of the energy plan he outlined during the campaign:

• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.
• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Ensure 10% of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25% by 2025.
• Deploy the cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source: energy efficiency.
• Weatherize one million homes annually.
• Increase fuel economy standards.
• Get 1 million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.

A Presidential Partner for Local Governments

In June 2008, at a speech before a U.S. Conference of Mayors gathering, Obama expressed his commitment to urban revitalization and offered to form new partnerships with urban leaders.

“We need to stop seeing our cities as the problem and start seeing them as the solution,” said Obama. “Because strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America. That is the new metropolitan reality and we need a new strategy that reflects it. As president, I’ll work with you to develop this kind of strategy and I’ll appoint the first White House Director of Urban Policy to help make it a reality.”

Obama has stated his support to restore funding to the Community Development Block Grant program; raise minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011; create a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to focus on city highways, railways and bridges; and increase capital to small businesses owned by women and minorities.

ICLEI's Blueprint for Local Action

From a local government perspective, Obama’s energy and climate vision appears to dovetail perfectly with his support for stronger urban communities.

“Climate mitigation and clean energy can be addressed from the ground up through local solutions, and now is the time for local government leaders to speak together and send this message,” says Wyman.

The Climate Action Blueprint – developed by ICLEI USA and Climate Communities – gives voice to local governments and spells out critical steps that President Obama and Congress must take to achieve energy independence and turn the tide on climate change. Local government leaders who endorse the Blueprint (which will be released at local media events in December) will emphasize that involving local governments will be the key to success of Obama’s clean energy and climate goals. The Blueprint calls for the following plans:

Enact a national climate policy that:

• Sets mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions with market-based trading;
• Invests the proceeds from carbon trading into local government actions that reduce emissions through green buildings; transit, smart growth and other VMT reduction strategies; green local fleets and fuels; renewable energy; green infrastructure; and green jobs and businesses; and
• Allows regulated emitters to invest through carbon off sets in local green infrastructure that reduces greenhouse gases, including community forestry, green roofs, and open space and farmland preservation.

Implement clean energy policies that:

• Reduce building energy use by 30 percent by 2025 by establishing national building efficiency targets and providing annual funding to help local governments meet or exceed the national targets; and
• Produce 25 percent of the nation’s power from renewable energy by 2025 through renewable portfolio standards, and measures to overcome interconnection and rate barriers to community-scale renewables.

Invest in local climate capacity through annual federal
appropriations that:

• Fully fund the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants at $2 billion annually;
• Provide $250 million annually for EPA Local Climate Demonstration Grants;
• Provide $400 million annually for the DOE Clean Cities program to support low-emission vehicles and cleaner fuels including alternative fuels infrastructure and plug-in hybrid vehicles; and
• Provide $100 million annually for the Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry program.
  

“I urge local government leaders to endorse this Blueprint as a way to move forward in partnership with President-elect Obama and the incoming Congress,” says Wyman.

Turning Plans into Actions

The best-laid plans must all face political realities, and dramatic steps forward on climate and energy will need to overcome complex challenges, from Congressional partisanship to a mounting federal deficit.

“It’s no secret that our president-elect [comes into office] facing the gravest economic crisis since Franklin Delano Roosevelt,” said Daniel J. Weiss, Senior Fellow and the Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress, during a Nov. 7 national Climate Communities and ICLEI USA conference call on what election results may mean for federal climate action. Obama’s first priority is likely to stabilize and stimulate the economy through an additional stimulus package, and this, said Weiss, is where clean energy and climate change initiatives can be incorporated.

“A stimulus package needs to focus on existing programs that are already authorized – rather than new programs – and can get money out the door and create jobs right away,” explained Weiss. “So for cleaner energy, this could include increased spending for the weatherization assistance program for low-income homes, which is funded at $250 million right now, but already authorized at $900 million.”

Other already-approved possibilities are energy efficiency programs for schools and regional transit projects. A recent Los Angeles Times article predicts that the next stimulus package will focus on infrastructure spending, and will likely include funding for green projects.

Renewable Energy Prospects

More ambitious renewable energy plans won’t likely get off the ground immediately, but they can fit into medium- and long-term strategies to recover and grow the economy, said Weiss. The same is true for large-scale climate policies, such as a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Obama strongly supports cap-and-trade legislation, and will likely seek to pursue it within the first two years of his presidency.

“In economically challenging times, many in Congress are skittish about cap-and-trade,” said Weiss, “but it’s important for advocates to highlight the economics costs of inaction on climate change, and to show that cap-and-trade will create jobs, not cost jobs.” Local governments can help lay the groundwork by voicing their support for cap-and-trade, added Weiss.

Steps to Set the Tone

Before he engages in the fight for expansive climate and energy policies, President Obama may seek to set the tone for his administration on these critical issues with a series of quick actions. There is widespread media speculation that he may elevate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator position to cabinet level, or appoint a “climate czar” to underscore his commitment to climate action. Other experts suggest that he may quickly grant California its request – denied by the Bush administration – to set tighter vehicle emissions standards, or order the EPA to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions through existing mechanisms, such as the April 2007 Supreme Court decision on Massachusetts v. EPA.

Such actions may put more pressure on Congress to accept cap-and-trade legislation, and may increase the Obama Administration’s clout in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen in December.

A Deep Desire for Change

President-elect Obama enters the White House with a groundswell of support for clean energy and climate initiatives. A Zogby post-election survey of 3,357 voters nationwide found that 78% believed investing in clean energy is important to revitalizing America’s economy. In July, a nationwide poll conducted by the nonpartisan Presidential Climate Action Project found that 62% of respondents believe it is important that the next U.S. president initiates strong action to address climate change soon after taking office.

Abroad, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier recently urged Obama to give the world a “New Green Deal.” United Nations leaders have voiced similar messages. "With President-elect Obama,” said Yvo de Boer, Executive Director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, “my hope is that the U.S. can take on a leadership role and help to move [climate] negotiations forward.”