The Obama administration brought energy policy front and center with its efforts to address climate change, and it will still be there when the next president enters the Oval Office in January, according to a report issued Tuesday by the University of North Carolina School of Law Center for Climate, Energy, Environment and Economics; the Harvard Environmental Policy Initiative; and Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. “Due to statutory deadlines, pending lawsuits, and agency rulemakings—if not by choice— the next president will tackle energy policy,” the report says.
The report looks at six areas in which decisions will be required of the incoming administration: federal regulation of electricity markets; climate policy; nuclear energy; natural gas; economic development; and federal government procurement.
An important factor in many of these sectors is how the next administration deals with the Clean Power Plan, which regulates carbon from existing coal-fired power plants. The rule is the target of a massive legal challenge, which is likely to stretch into 2017. The next president will have to decide how to respond to the upcoming decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. “Notably, if the D.C. Circuit or Supreme Court vacates the Clean Power Plan or significantly restricts the EPA’s authority under Section 111(d), the EPA would retain the authority to address GHG emissions using other sections of the Clean Air Act, such as sections 108–110 (National Ambient Air Quality Standards) and Section 115 (international air pollution),” the paper says.
The CPP will also play a role in how the next administration deals with the growing use of natural gas for energy generation. While the fuel is cleaner burning than coal, it does emit some carbon, suggesting it could eventually be subject to a CPP-type regulation.
