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Wait! We're Not Done with Bush Yet...

3:18 PM, January 19, 2009 | Comments (25)
Celebratory is a safe way to describe the mood in Washington. And not just for Barack Obama's big day on Tuesday. When Obama raises his right hand, it will mark for millions of his supporters the end of something else. At Dupont Circle in Northwest Washington,...

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Posted Tuesday, January 27, 2009 10:39 PM

The Climate Comes to Washington

Daniel Stone
The week since President Obama took office have been something of a coming out party for the environmental movement in Washington. It kicked off with several Green Inaugural Balls, bringing together the leading environmental advocates in Washington eager to celebrate having a friend back in the White House. Then Obama announced a series of clean and green energy initiatives, including a review of California's request to regulate its own emissions and the implementation of new fuel efficiency standards for cars.

But the really groundbreaking announcement came not from Obama, but from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She showed Monday that the administration wasn't just going to fill old positions with new science-minded and earth-friendly people. No, the administration would create some new ones too. Clinton announced at the State Department Monday a new department -- a special envoy on climate change -- to diplomatically lead, shape and broker America's influence on climate issues and global warming leading up to an important international climate conference later this year. To lead the envoy, Clinton named Todd Stern, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who worked formerly on climate policy in the Clinton Administration. "Todd is a creative and clear thinker, a man of great sensibility and good judgment," Clinton boasted.

Environmental leaders immediately started fawning. Stern's new position, and his record, showed that the new president, at least in terms of his promises on the environment, was keeping his promises. "He's actually doing what he said he'd do, look at that!" an excited Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, told Newsweek. The broad consensus is that for many years, the world has doubted America's commitment to combating climate change, made clear by the Bush Administration's consistent refusal to ratify the Kyoto treaty that would have meant massive industrial cutbacks. But Obama staked nearly a third of his campaign on clean energy and the U.S.'s responsibility to lead the world on climate solutions.

The federal government has lots of regulatory work to do on environmental and industrial policy. But in green circles, Stern is welcomed as the right man for his new job, which will force him to be half-advocate and half diplomat in order to convince the world that America is serious about curbing global warming. And he'll be on deadline, too. Copenhagen will play host to the all-inclusive United Nations climate conference in December, where Stern will have to ensure the U.S. will have a seat  front-row-center. Several heads of state are expected to attend, perhaps even Obama himself.

In the new position as head of the envoy, Stern seemed eager and excited, beaming at Clinton's press conference announcing him. And he has surprisingly few critics from the broad green scene that often has trouble agreeing. LCV's Karpinksi likes him ("Todd has tremendous experience and is smart and strategic. What's more, he's politically savvy."), as does Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy on global warming at the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Washington science advocacy group that was often frustrated with the science-lite Bush Administration. "This is a complicated game of three-dimensional chess and it's good news that Todd knows the issue," says Meyer. "He has relationships with people abroad. He comes in with a very good sense for the landscape."

But with Stern beginning the work of amplifying Obama's intent to lead on climate change, the industries and leaders who have long fought against environmental issues as detrimental to future economic development see Stern's new job as a bad sign of what's to come. Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, perennial climate change denier, belittled the value of the new position under the State Department, saying it was new in name, but not actually a new job and would have little effect. "Mr. Stern will have his work cut out for him trying to negotiate the details for developing nations to adhere to measurable, reportable, and verifiable emissions cuts as agreed to in the Bali Action Plan,” Inhofe wrote in an e-mail to Newsweek. Some contributors to online forums also tisked at the appointment, arguing that since early effects of climate change are inevitable, a truly visionary response would be to lead the way in trying to plan for what's to come. Not to try to play catch-up on the missteps of the past.

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