Obama can Bypass Congress in his Battle Against Climate Change

[Ed Mojica]

President Barack Obama, whose inaugural address made climate change a priority for his second term, could bypass Congress and implement much of his environmental agenda unilaterally through regulations and executive action.

The president can accomplish with rules much of what was sought in the next few years under the failed 2009 cap-and-trade legislation, relying on authority in the four-decade-old Clean Air Act and a 2007 Supreme Court decision applying it to carbon- dioxide emissions.

“He doesn’t need new legislation in order to make significant progress,” David Doniger, climate policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said. “The primary pathway is to use the legal authority he clearly already has.”

[The Oil Baron]

This would be an interesting move, as it will effectively alienate congress and ensure that they are less likely to ever approve any bills that Obama tries to pass in the future. Well it is his last term as president, he may as well try and make as many positive changes as he can, he has little to lose in the long run.