Making Sure Uncle Sam is Dressed for Copenhagen

In the Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, an emperor goes out among his subjects in his underwear. Two swindlers posing as tailors have convinced him he is wearing a suit made from cloth that is invisible to anyone who is stupid. Not wanting to accept that he’s stupid, the emperor parades through his empire believing he is fully dressed.

It now is up to the U.S. Senate to make sure Uncle Sam is not only fully dressed, but dressed for success when he shows up in Copenhagen on Dec. 7 to work on a global climate deal.

As far as wardrobes go, President Obama and his team have done a pretty good job packing their suitcases with climate initiatives that have they have launched under their own authority this year.

Even so, without an affirmative vote by the Senate on a respectable climate bill, Uncle Sam will be only half-dressed in the eyes of the global community.

That’s my reading after a three-country tour of Europe where I spent nine days in meetings with people from 19 nations ranging from Bangladesh to Belgium and Russia to Rwanda. They included a former head of state, former top military leaders, current government officials, scientists, entrepreneurs, academics and other thought leaders in their respective countries.

In my informal sampling of their opinions, I found that (a) U.S. leadership remains the linchpin of a global climate deal, and (b) the world needs to know that Congress, as well as President Obama, is serious about capping America’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Before speculating about why this is the case, let’s review the accomplishments that the Obama administration already can take to Copenhagen:

The Endangerment Finding: Earlier this year, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson issued a proposed ruling that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. Once finalized, it will trigger EPA’s authority to regulate those emissions under the Clean Air Act. EPA is moving forward on regulations that would limit emissions from large polluters starting in 2011, signaling that if Congress and the marketplace don’t force a cut in U.S. carbon, EPA will.

The Economic Stimulus: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the stimulus bill, contained tens of billions of dollars for clean energy technologies ranging from high-speed rail to home weatherization, and from solar power to battery storage. It was the biggest energy bill ever passed by Congress. Most of those funds are only now beginning to move into the economy. The U.S. Department of Energy predicts “the next three months will be the most exciting time for the clean-technology industry in the last decade” with new grants issued every 10 days to two weeks.

The Climate Change Response Council: In September, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar created a Climate Change Response Council to coordinate the department’s actions on global warming. That’s important because the Interior Department has jurisdiction over one-fifth of our nation’s landmass, 1.7 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, drinking water supplies for 31 million Americans and irrigation water for 140,000 farmers. The announcement followed Salazar’s decision last March to move toward substantial renewable energy production on public lands.

Fuel Efficiency Standards: EPA and the Department of Transportation have proposed standards to increase the fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks in the U.S. by 40 percent between 2012 and 2016. The new standards will cut carbon emissions by nearly a billion tons and reduce oil consumption by nearly 2 billion barrels. Dan Becker of the Safe Climate Campaign called this action “the single biggest step the American government has ever taken to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.”

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