A4
Politics & The Nation
EZ SU
Court gives impetus to EPA greenhouse gas emission rule
BY STEVENMUFSON A U.S. appellate court Friday
turned down a request from utili- ties, oil refiners and the state of Texas to delay the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency. As a result, the EPA and state
agencies can begin to insist that companies use the “best available control technologies” to restrict emissions of carbon dioxide to ob- tainair permits. The companies and Texas had
sought a court order blocking the EPA from moving ahead until the end of a lawsuit challenging the agency’s finding that greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants and large industrial facili- ties endanger the health of Ameri- cans. The companies contend in that
lawsuit that the EPA regulations would be too costly. But
theU.S.Court ofAppeals for
the District of Columbia said that the companies “have not shown that the harms they allege are ‘cer- tain,’ rather thanspeculative.” Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has
been a particularly vocal opponent of the EPA’s authority over green- house gas emissions, and many members of Congress have vowed tofightanyEPAefforts toset limits. Many analysts say it could become one of themajor points of confron- tation between Republicans and the Obama administration next year. Industry groups condemnedthe
court’s ruling. “Yet another blow was dealt in favor of overreaching government regulation and against the economicwell-being of
the American people,” Charles T. Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Associa- tion, said ina statement. But environmental organiza-
tions hailed the court’s order. “The biggest polluters in America hired countless K Street lawyers to un- dermine EPA’s science-based poli- cies to address global warming consistent with its responsibilities under the Clean Air Act,” said Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, “and they utterly failed inmeeting the burden of proof that these criticallyimportant rules shouldbe stayed.” Bruce Nilles, an attorney with
the Sierra Club, said “there is no further obstacle to theU.S. starting Jan. 3rd to regulate [large] sources of CO2.” He said that although the companies’ lawsuitchallengingthe EPA’s endangerment finding will continue, it “won’t be over until long after states and EPA start regulating emissions.” Scott Segal, a lobbyist at Brace-
wellGiuliani,afirmthatrepresents utilities, refiners, cement compa- niesandmanufacturers,saidthat if companies can’t meet require- ments, then “the court may have ensured an effective construction moratorium for industrial and power projects. Given the state of the economy, the decision is cer- tainly not a welcome holiday pres- ent.” But Nilles said that companies
were exaggerating the difficulty of meeting EPA standards. He said that years ago when regulations about acid rainwere imposed, “in- dustrypromisedthat theskywould fall, and it didn’t.”
mufsons@washpost.com
KLMNO
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010 193 nations sign climate-change package
Cancun Agreements outline limits
on carbon output BY JULIET EILPERIN
ANDWILLIAM BOOTH
cancun, mexico — Delegates from193 nations agreed Saturday onanewglobal frameworktohelp developing countries curb their carbon output and cope with the effects of climate change, but they postponed the harder question of precisely how industrialized and major emerging economies will share the task of making deeper greenhouse-gas emission cuts in the coming decade. The package known as the
CancunAgreements has salvaged a U.N.-backed process that was close to failure, delivering a dip- lomatic victory to the talks’Mexi- can hosts. But it also highlighted the obstacles that await as coun- tries continue to grapple with climate change through broad international negotiations. After an all-night session that
included a face-off betweenMexi- can Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa and Bolivia’s U.N. am- bassador, Pablo Solon, members of the U.N. Framework Conven- tion on Climate Change (UNFCC) agreed to create a “Green Climate Fund” that will transfer money fromrich countries to poor ones; researchcenters thatwill ease the transfer of clean-energy technol- ogy; and a systeminwhich devel- oping nations can be compensat- ed for keeping rain forests intact. “Cancun has done its job,”
UNFCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres said in a statement. “Nations have shown they can work together under a common roof, to reach consensus on a common cause.” But the outcome left some
gaping holes, including spelling out exactly how the new pot of international aid will be funded and whether the 1997 Kyoto Pro- tocol, the current global climate pact, will be extended once its first commitment period expires in2012. Signatories suchas Japan and Russia oppose an extension because the United States, China and India are not bound to man- datory emission reductions un- der Kyoto.
JORGE SILVA/REUTERS
Activists continue to protest from aMexican police bus after their arrest outside the climate summit. “Nations have shown they can work together under a common roof,” a top official said of the pact.
Akira Yamada, Japan’s deputy
director general for global issues, said the current Kyoto frame- work amounted to having big emitters act as “spectators”while the rest of the industrialized world played a soccermatch. “We would hope they would come down to the field to play with us, to score against global warming,” Yamada said. The new framework encapsu-
lates the current commitments that both industrialized and de- veloping nations have made to cut their carbon emissions over the next decade, though it notes that these will not meet the agreed-upon goal of keeping the rise in global temperatures from exceeding 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels. To achieve that, industrialized countries would have cut their emissions between 25 and 40 percent com- paredwith 1990 levels in the next decade, as opposed to the 16 percent they have promised. AldenMeyer,director of strate-
gy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said dele- gates have “bought themselves some time” but will face an even tougher negotiation next year in Durban, South Africa. “The big
issues are still unaddressed,” he said. Still, the agreement cemented
and fleshed out key elements of the Copenhagen Accord, the con- troversial deal brokered among President Obama and the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa in a closed meeting last year. That pact was not formally adopted by the U.N. body after a handful of Latin American coun- tries raised objections, but it established the idea that major developing countries would sub- ject voluntary emissions cuts to international scrutiny while the industrializedworldwouldmobi- lize $100 billion in climate aid for poor nations by 2020. “The reality is we really got
what we were looking for,” said U.S. special climate envoy Todd Stern in an interview Saturday. On issues such as forests, financ- ing and scrutiny of major emit- ters’ carbon reductions, he said, “we got good, substantive deci- sions on all of those things.” Michael Levi, senior follow for
energy and the environment at the Council on ForeignRelations, wrote in an e-mail that while “most of the important work of cutting emissions will be driven outside the U.N. process,” the
Cancun agreement “should be applauded not because it solves everything, but because it choos- esnot to: it focuses onthose areas where the U.N. process has the most potential to be useful, and avoids others where the U.N. process is a dead end.” Some elements of the deal,
including one known as Reduc- ing Emissions from Deforesta- tion and Forest Degradation, could have an immediate impact on curbing carbon emissions. The new language establishes rules for calculating how much carbon is stored in forest stocks vulnerable to logging or burning, along with safeguards for rain- forest dwellers and biodiversity. Rebecca Chacko, who directs
climate policy for the advocacy group Conservation Internation- al, said this “basic framework” is “going to inspire countries to really ramp up the financing immediately” for forest preserva- tion, as well as open the door to more private funding. In the end,Mexico was able to
If you can find a better deal, take it. LIMITED TIME—ONLINE ONLY
2.99 %APR CarLoan
12 to 60 months financing for new & used cars
This online-only rate is a 1% savings over our regular rate
If you’re paying a higher rate elsewhere you can refinance at 2.99%*
PenFed.org/CarLoanDC 866.406.5090 ~ Se habla español.
Rate and offers current as of November 1, 2010 and are subject to change. Rate dependent on amount borrowed, term, and model year. Car Loan example: $20,000 loan at 2.99% APR, 60 monthly payments of approximately $360 each. Rate applies to online applications only. Otherwise, the applicable APR is 3.99%. *Refinancing an existing PenFed collateralized loan for a lowerrate requiresadditionalproceeds of at least $5,000 on theloanamount.Other collateral conditions apply.
They Gave. We Give Back.
PenFed realizes that freedom has aprice. Through our support of the PenFed Foundation, we help provide for the unmet needs of those serving to protect our freedoms today and those who have served their nation in the past.
Macy’s Gift Cards Always the perfect fit. Always the perfect gift.
Check everyone off your holiday shopping list with a Macy’s Gift Card. Available in any amount, it’s the ultimate present. And, make sure your gift card recipient spends it in style! Set them up with a complimentary consultation with Linda Lee and her team of personal shoppers.
Call Macy’sByAppointment today at Tysons Corner Center 703-356-0401; Montgomery 301-365-1645; Metro Center 202-628-6661 x235; Tysons Galleria 703-902-4355; Pentagon City 703-412-8355 or email us at
macys.by.appointment@
macys.com
n This year alone, our Military Heroes® Fund has paid nearly $300,000 in bills to help families of the wounded overcome financial emergencies, and to support day care costs for children of the wounded at military hospitals.
n We’re raising funds to build a $12.5 million Defenders Lodge adjacent to the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital to provide free lodging for veterans of all wars.
n Dream Makers program has placed more than 120 families into their first homes with down-payment grants.
n We’ve provided over $1.7 million as an alternative to predatory lenders through the ARK loan program.
For more information, visit
penfedfoundation.org.
pull off what the president of the Center for Clean Air Policy, Ned Helme, called a negotiating “tour de force” by asking delegates what was most important to them and what they could com- promise on. TheMexicans finally won over everyone — except So- lon, who complained about ev- erything from future climate tar- gets to his treatment by check- point security guards. In an interview, Espinosa said:
“Wewere feeling very uncomfort- able, because Bolivia is a very close friend to the Mexican peo- ple. We share a lot with Bolivia. Both countries havemany indige- nous peoples. We both have for- ests. So being so far apart was difficult for us.” President Felipe Calderon in
an interview Saturday morning called the late-night conclusion, with its repeated applause for Mexico and its appeals to save humanity, “a very emotional night for all of us.” Minutes later, at a breakfast by
the sea for the Mexican delega- tion,Calderon hoisted a cold beer and dug intohis tacos, after being hailed as the world’s new leader on climate change.
eilperinj@washpost.com boothb@washpost.com
TALK SHOWS
Guests to be interviewed Sunday on major television talk shows:
FOX NEWS SUNDAY WTTG, 9 a.m. Reps. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.); and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
STATE OF THE UNION CNN, 9 a.m. Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.); Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.);White House senior adviser David Axelrod; and former national intelligence director Dennis C. Blair.
THISWEEK ABC,WJLA, 10 a.m. Axelrod; Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad; former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni; and former British prime minister Gordon Brown.
FACE THE NATION CBS, WUSA, 10:30 a.m. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean.
MEET THE PRESS NBC, WRC, 10:30 a.m. Rep. AnthonyWeiner (D-N.Y.); former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.); New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee.
ThePentagonFederal Credit UnionFoundationisa501(c)(3) nonprofit. PentagonFederal Credit Unionpaysall labor costs. Your donation goes right to our programs.
WASHINGTONWATCH TV One, 11 a.m. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.); counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Gene Sperling; and Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176