June 28, 2014

Domestic actions on climate change will bolster international negotiations, says Obama environmental policy leader

STANFORD, Calif.—It may have taken a while to start, but on climate change the United States is first walking the talk.

The Obama administration’s moves to curb domestic emissions of greenhouse gases will provide credibility as it pursues international agreement on the issue either globally or with only a few key countries, the acting chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Michael Boots, said at Stanford University’s Silicon Valley Energy Summit.

"Frankly, the world got used to the United States not being a leader on the climate issue," said Boots. "The president feels very, very strongly that we need to do as much as we can on the domestic front to send a strong signal before we ask others to do the same."

In early June, the Environmental Protection Agency took its boldest step yet on climate change by announcing plans to cut emissions of carbon dioxide from the country’s fleet of coal-fired power plants, which generate about 40 percent of U.S. electricity.

"We needed what the EPA did to be a base for some discussions heading to Paris in 2015," said Boots, adding that the administration feels it is on a good trajectory leading up to those global negotiations. Read More...

Keynotes Michael Boots Acting Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality Jennifer Granholm Former Governor of Michigan; Practitioner of Law and Public Policy, UC Berkeley Stefan Heck Former Director, McKinsey, Cleantech and Sustainability Practices; Consulting Professor, Stanford Secretary George Shultz Former U.S. Secretary of State, Treasury and Labor; Chair, Hoover Institution Energy Policy Task Force Cathy Zoi Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy; Consulting Professor, Stanford

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