State of the Union Preview: 2015 Recap and Top Executive Branch Environmental Priorities for 2016
With President Obama’s last State of the Union address quickly approaching, we’re eager to hear what the president foresees for his final year in office. If his tremendous environmental accomplishments of 2015 are any indication, we are optimistic that we can build on this historic progress in this upcoming year. Here are LCV’s top highlights of key victories in 2015 and our top priorities for executive branch action in the upcoming year:
Clean Power Plan. At the center of the Obama administration’s 2015 climate victories is the Clean Power Plan, which was finalized in August. This landmark plan sets the first-ever national limits on carbon pollution from power plants — the country’s single largest source of the pollution fueling climate change.
In 2015, polluter-backed members of Congress tried — and failed — to block this landmark progress. They used nearly every tool at their disposal, including the appropriations process, standalone legislation, and extreme resolutions. Thankfully, President Obama and a bipartisan group of legislators stood strong against these attacks, keeping the Clean Power Plan and its vast benefits to Americans alive and well.
With the Clean Power Plan in place, we are now focused on implementing these public health protections in the states. Each state is empowered to craft its own plan to meet the state-based emission reduction targets; however, if states fail to act, the Clean Air Act directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to step in with a federal plan. We are working with our state LCV partners to ensure governors craft ambitious state plans and pushing for a strong final federal plan, which will be finalized by the EPA this year.
Paris Climate Agreement. For the very first time, we have a truly global agreement to fight climate change. And it was President Obama’s strong actions on climate here at home that positioned the United States as a credible global leader in the Paris climate conference. His strategic diplomatic efforts abroad, including the historic joint U.S.-China climate announcement in the fall of 2014, were also critical factors that enabled the successful outcome in Paris. The Paris international climate agreement lays out a strong long-term goal, builds in regular review periods that enables increased ambition over time, and ensures all countries are accountable for reaching their emissions targets. This agreement was a breakthrough moment on climate — signaling to investors to shift away from fossil fuels and toward the low-carbon economy.
Clean Energy Advancements. Since President Obama took office, investment in clean energy has skyrocketed — solar generation has increased by twenty-fold, and electricity from wind power has tripled. Furthermore, the cost of solar power has dropped 50 percent in four years, making clean energy more and more affordable for Americans. As one of the final initiatives of 2015, Congress contributed to these clean energy successes by extending the Production Tax Credit and the Investment Tax Credit, which support development and use of renewable energy. Over the upcoming year, we look forward to working with the Department of Energy to make additional improvements to energy efficiency standards that will cut waste and save money for businesses and families.
Keystone XL Pipeline. The president’s historic rejection of TransCanada’s permit for the Keystone XL pipeline was a huge win in the fight against climate change. This decision came after a hard-fought, grassroots campaign, stretching out over six years with many twists and turns and numerous attempts by fossil fueled aligned members of Congress to force approval of this dirty and dangerous pipeline. In fact, a Keystone XL pipeline approval bill was the very first measure taken up by the new Senate majority in 2015. When President Obama promptly vetoed this bill and later went on to reject the permit, he made it clear that America is transitioning to clean energy and further underscored his sincere commitment to fight climate change.
Offshore Drilling. Initially, 2015 didn’t hold much promise for battling offshore drilling. During the summer, Royal Dutch Shell moved forward with their oil exploration plan in the Chukchi Sea, a precarious and remote portion of the Arctic Ocean that supports an exceptional ecosystem. Dedicated activists — some dangling from bridges, others in kayaks — opposed this exploration, creating tremendous media coverage and pressure for the Obama administration to strictly enforce the laws and hold Shell to high standards. Thankfully, in September Shell abandoned its Arctic exploration and the Obama administration built on this momentum by canceling sales of new oil and gas leases in the Arctic Ocean.
Much work remains in 2016 to ensure the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans are protected from dangerous offshore drilling whose spills would devastate wildlife, ocean health, and the coastal-dependent businesses in these regions. Unfortunately, the Interior Department’s draft five-year drilling plan, spanning 2017 to 2022, was released last year and included new leases in the Arctic and would open the Atlantic Ocean to oil and gas development. We urge President Obama to abandon this proposal before it’s finalized and protect the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans for good. Public lands and waters, such as these oceans, should be managed in the best interests of the public instead of producing more fossil fuel and worsening climate change. We should keep that oil in the ground and under the ocean and accelerate our transition to clean energy.
Methane Pollution. Methane pollution is the second largest contributor to climate change behind carbon and is particularly dirty — pound for pound, methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. The largest source of industrial methane pollution is the oil and gas industry, where gas is leaked throughout the system and vented and intentionally flared at wells across the country. In addition to methane pollution, these leaks and releases are also accompanied by dangerous air pollutants like benzene that contribute to smog and health problems in nearby communities.
Currently there are no national limits on the methane pollution coming from the oil and gas industry, but last year, the EPA took the important first step of proposing standards for new and modified sources of methane — critical, sensible, and achievable safeguards that will begin to reduce this dangerous pollution. However, we have to do more to seriously reduce methane pollution and its contributions to climate change. In 2016, the EPA should finalize strong standards for new and modified sources and also set robust standards for existing sources of methane from the oil and gas industry, as existing sources are the largest source of the problem. Furthermore, to complement the EPA’s work, the Bureau of Land Management should propose and finalize standards that reduce methane pollution from our public lands, which will reduce waste of a valuable natural resource, ensure taxpayers are fairly compensated for their resources, and slow this contribution to climate change while we continue to move towards renewable sources of energy.
Fuel Efficiency for Heavy-Duty Vehicles. Heavy-duty trucks, which include everything from buses to tractor-trailers to garbage trucks to cargo vans, account for only 7 percent of vehicles on our roads but use 25 percent of our nation’s fuel. Making these trucks more efficient is good for consumers and is an important component of stemming dangerous climate change. Last year, the administration proposed updated fuel efficiency standards for these heavy-duty trucks, and we’d like to see these standards finalized as soon as possible and achieved on a faster time frame, given advancements in cleaner technologies.
Clean Water Rule. In May, the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers protected the drinking water of 1 in 3 Americans with their finalized Clean Water Rule. This rule clarified the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act, which had been thrown into confusion by two Supreme Court decisions that left more than half of our nation’s streams and 20 million acres of wetlands vulnerable to pollution. The Clean Water Rule restored critical pollution safeguards to these important waterways and is supported by 80 percent of Americans.
Last year, Republican congressional leadership advanced multiple schemes to gut this rule and ensure big polluters kept their free pass to pollute many of our country’s key waterways. Thankfully, the president and clean water champions in Congress prevented major assaults on the Clean Water Rule from becoming law. However, with the House planning to vote on the Senate-passed radical Congressional Review Act resolution the week of January 11th, we will need the president’s continued leadership to ensure these clean water protections remain in place.
Treasured Landscapes. Over President Obama’s tenure, he’s protected more than 260 million acres of America’s public lands and waters — more than any other president. In 2015, President Obama used his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate six new national monuments, ranging from grand landscapes like California’s Berryessa Snow Mountain and Nevada’s Basin and Range to the culturally important Honouliuli Internment Camp in Hawaii to the significant paleontological site Waco Mammoth in Texas. Not only do these parks preserve our natural heritage, but they also boost local economies by attracting visitors. Another modest victory for public lands came in the end-of-year spending bill — America’s best parks program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has helped fund more than 40,000 local projects across all 50 states, received a short-term reauthorization after the Republican-controlled Congress allowed the program to lapse in September.
During 2016, we’re looking forward to the president protecting additional majestic landscapes and meaningful cultural sites for future generations’ enjoyment. We encourage President Obama to listen to local communities across the country that are advocating for permanent protections in stunning and culturally significant places such as the California desert, at-risk areas around the Grand Canyon, and in southern Utah’s Bears Ears region.
Coal Leases on Public Lands. Last year, the Obama administration toured the West to hear from the public about changing the way we do business when leasing coal from public lands. The message was heard loud and clear: it’s high time for us to update our century-old regulations that lease coal mined from our shared public lands. We hope the administration continues their commitment to update the seriously outdated federal coal program and ensure that coal leases are not renewed if they are incompatible with our global climate commitments. The renewable energy revolution continues to explode across the country and it’s time to leave the outdated and dirty fuels of the past in the ground.
There’s no doubt that 2015 was a banner year for climate and conservation and we start 2016 buoyed by the strong environmental progress of the past year and very optimistic about the prospects of continued progress. While we didn’t win every fight in 2015 — notably the forty-year old ban on exporting crude oil was lifted in the end-of-year spending negotiations — we did fend off the vast majority of the consistent onslaught of environmental attacks from radical Republican leaders in Congress. In 2016, we will be there every step of the way to defend our bedrock environmental laws against legislative attacks, and we will work with President Obama to build on his strong environmental leadership in his final year in office. We are eager to hear the vision and plans he lays out in his final State of the Union address.
