Carol Browner, who headed the Obama administration’s push for comprehensive climate change, is leaving her White House post, according to numerous reports.
Her official title as Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy gave way to the term Climate Czar shortly after President Obama took office. And though she has been a steady and reputable presence in the White House, her primary mission to push climate legislation failed.
The administration has yet to announce whether Browner will be replaced in the position, or whether it will be dissolved, now that comprehensive climate legislation is off the table for at least the next two years.
There was talk that Browner may move to the role of deputy chief of staff in the big administration shakeup, but now it appears that role will go to someone with business, rather than environmental credentials.
EPA, DOT, California Coordinate Release of New Fuel Economy Standards
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state of California announced a single timeframe for proposing fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for model year 2017-2025 cars and light-duty trucks.
Proposing the new standards on the same timeframe–by September 1, 2011–signals continued collaboration to overcome critics and lawsuits taking aim at the Clean Air Act and California’s precedence in setting fuel economy standards.
California has agreed to delay the announcement of its standard from March, while EPA and DOT will push forward their deadline from September 30.
"By agreeing to coordinate on timing, the U.S. EPA and California are set to repeat the success of the first round of that national clean car deal that was brokered by the Administration and supported by states, automakers, labor, and environmentalist leaders," Roland Hwang of NRDC said in a blog post.
In April 2010, DOT and EPA established greenhouse gas emission and fuel
economy standards for model year 2012-2016 light-duty cars and trucks.
In the fall of 2010, California accepted compliance with these federal
GHG standards as meeting similar state standards as adopted in 2004,
resulting in the first coordinated national program. The standards
require these vehicles to meet an estimated combined average emissions
level of 250 grams of carbon dioxide per mile in model year 2016, which
is equivalent to 35.5 miles per gallon.
In May 2010, President Obama announced that EPA, DOT and California
would begin working together to assess the performance and costs of a
variety of technologies that could be available in model years 2017-2025
as the first step in possibly extending the current national emission
and fuel economy standards. The three agencies completed an interim
technology assessment and have since funded additional research critical
to future rulemaking.
EPA and the DOT announced they are considering increasing fuel efficiency requirements 3% to 6% annually from 2017 to 2025. The high end of the range would lead to 62 mpg efficiency.
Energy and Commerce Departments Come Together on Renewable Energy Modeling
The Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce Monday announced a new agreement to further collaboration between the agencies on renewable energy modeling and weather forecasting, which will help enable the nation’s renewable energy resources to be used more effectively by business and entrepreneurs.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed by Acting Under Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., will encourage the two agencies to work together to develop and disseminate weather and climate information needed for renewable energy technologies that are dependent on short-term weather and longer-term climate trends.
Better information on weather patterns and improved modeling of the variability of the wind, sun, water, ocean currents and other sources of renewable energy will ultimately increase the country’s ability to efficiently and reliably integrate renewable energy into the electrical grid.
The collaboration includes a working group from DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that will identify areas for continued focus and research and help lay out next steps for improving the efficiency of renewable resources and better integrating renewable energy sources onto the electrical grid.
The group will produce an Action Plan in the coming months that will address:
- Improving renewable resource characterization models and methodologies for optimizing system reliability and performance
- Advancing meteorological and oceanic forecasting technologies, models and methodologies
- Defining national weather and oceanic monitoring systems needed to support renewable energy
- Predicting climate effects on renewable energy resources
- Coordinating both public and private sector contributions to addressing renewable resource needs.
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