The plan, with details expected to be revealed in coming weeks, comes as Obama has been under increasing pressure from environmental groups and lawmakers from states harmed by Superstorm Sandy to cut pollution from existing power plants, the largest source of climate-altering gases. Several major environmental groups and states have threatened to sue the administration to force cuts to power plant emissions. And just last week, former Vice President Al Gore, a prominent climate activist and fellow Democrat, pointedly called on Obama to go beyond "great words" to "great actions." It was unclear whether the White House's plans would include controls on existing power plants. An administration official, who wasn't authorized to comment on the plan by name, said the White House was still weighing it. But since the administration has already proposed action on future power plants, the law would likely compel it to eventually tackle the remaining plants, or it would be forced to through litigation.
Obama's remarks in Berlin echoed comments he made in his State of the Union and inaugural speeches this year. "This is the global threat of our time," Obama said Wednesday. "And for the sake of future generations, our generation must move toward a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late. That is our job. That is our task. We have to get to work." Some environmentalists who cheered those remarks when they were made months ago, criticized them Wednesday. "President Obama deserves praise for including climate change among the long-term threats facing us all," said Ned Helme, president of the Center for Clear Air Policy, an environmentally friendly think tank. "But he should do more than talk about the problem. The president needs to put the full force of his office behind new regulations that will truly curb greenhouse gas emissions. For too long now, he has produced little action. I'm encouraged that he will finally act and not just ask."It's really not Obama's style to ask, especially when the bureaucracy is all too willing to do his bidding without the consent or even the oversight of Congress. It's the "global threat of our time," after all, a rhetorical point from which he does not back down in the slightest though even the New York Times is forced to admit the predictions of the past 15 years have proven to be nonsense. Obama is pretty good at pushing the regulatory state not only to its limits, but way beyond, in the pursuit of any ideological agenda he can't get Congress to support. And he's become quite brazen about it too. Maybe he figures that since the Supreme Court let him get away with the individual mandate in ObamaCare, he is now pretty much free to do whatever he wants - and even talking about it in public isn't going to create any problems. By the way, note how the AP gives Obama cover by tying "Superstorm Sandy" to "climate-altering gases" and implying causal effect of the latter on the former. That's about as specious a claim as you're going to find coming from global warmists, but the AP is all too happy to trumpet it, and that makes it easier for Obama to portray "climate change" as some sort of big emergency and global threat, thus justifying his latest abuse of executive power. Too bad "accountability journalism," as once practiced by the AP, ended on January 21, 2009. Now they not only fail to hold Obama accountable for the abuse of his authority, they run interference for him. No wonder he thinks he can do whatever he wants.
Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain
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