“Plan B” Issued for Climate Change

Released Aug. 30, 2010

The Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP), a committee of environmental advocates founded in 2007, recently issued a report with policy recommendations for the Obama Administration that can be implemented in the absence of climate change legislation. PCAP recommends the administration use its authority under current law to take action in the next three to six months to continue to make “our industries more competitive, our economy more stable, our job creation more robust, and our nation more secure.”

The report, Plan B: Near-Term Presidential Actions for Energy & Environmental Leadership, identifies the following key recommendations to help strengthen the federal government’s partnership with state and local governments on climate change:

1. working to create a national roadmap for a clean energy economy;
2. establishing industry-specific greenhouse gas performance standards that encourage energy efficiency investments;
   
3. incorporating conditions into federal grants and loans that reward state governments with proactive climate change policies;
   
4. reducing subsidies for fossil fuels by altering royalty rates and lease schedules for mineral extraction on federal lands;
   
5. encouraging investments in public transportation and transit-oriented development, as well finalizing more aggressive fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles.

PCAP also presented a comprehensive action plan to members of President Obama’s transition team in November 2008. The PCAP report is available at www.climateactionproject.com/plan2010.