Obama Doesn't Need Congress to Reduce Carbon Emissions
Posted at 8 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2012
President Obama’s election night victory speech made clear that the two issues that went largely untouched in his first term — immigration reform and climate change — were on the agenda for the next four years. But Matthew Yglesias is worried that the prospects for action on climate change are already receding.
“But not only is climate arguably the more historically significant issue, it’s the one in which the president has the most scope for action. On immigration he needs a deal with congress, and DC chatter aside I see zero evidence that a large bloc of John Boehner’s caucus is feeling electoral pressure to liberalize immigration. On climate, by contrast, Obama can do a lot through executive action.”
“This is thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 2007 Massachusetts v EPA case that carbon dioxide emissions fall under the regulatory purview of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
