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Volume 8, Issue 10 (Suppl)
J Earth Sci Clim Change, an open access
ISSN: 2157-7617
Climate Change 2017
October 19-21, 2017
Page 24
conference
series
.com
CLIMATE CHANGE
October 19-21, 2017 | Rome, Italy
4
th
World Conference on
Joseph Tomain, J Earth Sci Clim Change 2017, 8:10(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2157-7617-C1-035
The status of US climate and clean energy policy
O
n December 12, 2015, 195 nations signed what has been hailed as an historic climate agreement. The agreement
went into effect on November 4 this year with 116 signatories. Additionally, one year ago, the Obama administration
initiated its Clean Power Plan (CPP), the first major federal effort to merge energy and the environment for the purpose
of addressing climate change. Unfortunately, two events have conspired to slow down those efforts. First the CPP has been
challenged in court and a decision is expected shortly. Second, the election of Donald Trump raises serious questions about
a continued commitment to both efforts in no small part because of the persons he has announced as heading federal energy
and environmental agencies. The proposed presentation will address the status of federal climate efforts and will argue that
although a transition to a clean future has been occurring for decades now, particularly at the state level, additional initiatives
can be undertaken for a successful transition. First, three preconditions must be satisfied: federal leadership, both domestically
and globally, will facilitate, but not end, the transition; clean energy resources must be clearly defined and supported and; the
transition must be placed in its proper economic and political contexts. In this later regard, a clean power transition is not
inimical to economic growth and, therefore, policies supporting competitive clean energy markets are necessary. Once the
preconditions have been specified, then the second element is that innovation must occur also along three dimensions; federal
innovation policy and funding must support clean energy technologies; business innovations in the private sector must follow;
and supporting regulatory innovations must occur at the state and federal levels. The transition to a clean power future that
is brought about by innovations in technology, business practices, and regulations will lead to a new political narrative about
energy and the environment. The new politics is more democratic in two ways. First, incumbent large-scale energy firms, that
have long grown accustom to government regulatory and financial support, must recognize and accept the fact that the energy
sector is becoming more competitive and, therefore, incumbent firms must participate in that sector with a variety of new
entrants with new products and new technologies. Second, decision-making power over the energy future will shift away from
large-scale incumbents to not only smaller new entrants but decision-making power will also shift from federal regulatory
authorities to local and state actors and, ultimately, to consumers themselves. The increasing energy market competition, the
expansion of choices available to consumers, and the development of new energy resources and products are all part of the
democratization of energy.
Biography
Joseph Tomain is Dean Emeritus and the Wilbert and Helen Ziegler Professor of Law. He has written extensively in the energy law field as noted by his recent publications.
He also has published books entitled
Achieving Democracy: The Future of Progressive Regulation
(2014 Oxford University Press) and Creon’s Ghost: Law, Justice and
the Humanities (2009 Oxford University Press). In addition to his teaching and scholarship, he serves on a number of professional and civic organizations. He also has held
positions as Visiting Environmental Scholar at Lewis & Clark Law School; Distinguished Visiting Energy Professor at Vermont Law School; Visiting Scholar in the Program
of Liberal Studies at University of Notre Dame; Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University; Fulbright Senior Specialist in law in Cambodia and; National
Endowment for the Humanities Summer Fellow at Stanford University.
joseph.tomain@uc.eduJoseph Tomain
University of Cincinnati, USA