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“What we’re going to be listening for is to hear which of these many actions the president and EPA are going to be prioritizing, and what sort of their general approach to regulation is going to be,” he said.
Many industry groups, including those that represent coal and mining, declined to comment until they had heard more details of the president’s speech.
Utilities had no formal role in developing the policies expected to be announced Tuesday, said Quin Shea of the Edison Electric Institute. But many of the pieces are familiar, he said, and as the details emerge utilities will have a better sense of what it means for the industry.
“Our understanding of the contours of the policy is that there are a number of pieces,” he said. “None of which is particularly new, whether you’re talking about energy efficiency, increased use of renewables, development and greater expansion and marketability of new technologies, and new source performance standards. All of those pieces have been in play for several years.”
The proposal met with immediate political opposition, however. The office of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the president was about to “roll out a new ream of red tape that will make American energy more expensive and destroy jobs.” And the National Republican Senatorial Campaign sent out an alert that targets Democratic senators up for re-election in 2014.
“Rather than focusing on means to strengthen the economy, President Obama is embracing the most extreme environmentalists on the left and forcing his own agenda of radical climate change policies, blatantly ignoring the priorities of Americans,” said the group, which is charged with electing Republican senators.
The president’s proposal also is expected to include what’s known as mitigation — addressing the impacts of climate change that many American communities are already experiencing, whether it’s rising sea levels on the East Coast or melting sea ice in the Arctic. Obama also will pledge to lead global efforts in fighting climate change.
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