JR:  The White House is still “very much committed” to greenhouse gas reductions the way NBC was “Committed to Keeping Conan O’Brien” on the network in January 2010.  Too harsh?  Just wait and see.

EPA seeks to quell climate concerns as greens fret

The Environmental Protection Agency sought to quell concerns Thursday that climate change regulations will face the same fate as an ozone rule that the White House scuttled this month.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Wednesday that the agency would miss an end-of-September deadline to propose greenhouse gas standards for power plants, but insisted the rules are still on track.

She told San Francisco radio station KQED on Thursday that the agency will “absolutely” continue moving ahead with the standards. EPA officials say they will announce a new schedule shortly.

EPA is seeking to rebut the notion that the delay stems from White House or other influences outside the agency. Jackson told KQED that the delay was “not at all” a political decision, while spokeswoman Betsaida Alcantara told E2 that “we are very much committed to proposing the standards.”

I’d be slightly more reassured if they were committed to implementing the standards…..

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White House regulatory czar Cass Sunstein has been working to change the Obama Administration’s stance on various regulations.  The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Sunstein teamed up with Obama Chief of Staff Bill Daley to squash the long-delayed and much-needed ozone standard.

So if Sunstein thinks a regulatory moratorium would be catastrophic, that’s saying something.  Republicans, of course, have stepped up their attacks on regulations to unprecedented levels. Congressional Republicans and presidential hopefuls have made repeated calls for a moratorium on all regulations, and threaten to close the EPA on a daily basis.

Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that the White House was also considering a full moratorium on EPA regulations. But PoliticoPro reported today that Cass Sunstein, head of the Administration’s office of regulatory affairs, is denying those reports.

For one thing, “A moratorium would not be a scalpel or a machete, it would be more like a nuclear bomb, in the sense that it would prevent regulations that, let’s say, cost very little, and have very significant economic or public health benefits,” he said.

A moratorium would also block the executive branch from its duty to carry out laws passed by Congress, he added. “A moratorium would violate the requirement of laws to be faithfully executed, so it would have to be a highly qualified moratorium.” A time out on rules would also prevent some deregulatory efforts because they are considered regulatory actions, Sunstein said.

It must be said, however, that Sunstein’s own efforts have undermined the ability of  the president to make the case for regulations.  National Journal recently conducted a poll of energy industry insiders, who expressed concern that the smog decision will open up the door to more delays of Environmental Protection Agency standards: Read more

Last fall, thousands of youth climate activists called on President Obama to restore solar to the White House, removed 20 years ago by Ronald Reagan. In October, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that “by the end of this spring, there will be solar panels and a solar hot water heater on the roof of the White House.” Today, with less than 24 hours before the summer solstice, Ramamoorthy Ramesh announced that the date of White House solar installation won’t even be publicly decided until September at the earliest, based on the timeline for the DOE’s Rooftop Solar Challenge:

The Energy Department remains on the path to complete the White House solar demonstration project, in keeping with our commitment, and we look forward to sharing more information — including additional details on the timing of this project — after the competitive procurement process is completed.

The Rooftop Solar Challenge, part of the Department of Energy Sunshot Initiative to accelerate the deployment of solar technologies, is designed to encourage local and regional governments to improve market conditions for rooftop solar installations. The Sunshot Initiative program was only announced in April of this year, and the final date for submissions to the rooftop challenge is August 31. There is no date established for when the “competitive procurement process” is to be completed.

Although the work being done by Ramesh, one of the nation’s top solar-power scientists, as the head of the Sunshot Initiative, is crucial, tying the White House demonstration solar installations to this program is a transparent excuse for a broken pledge.

The threat of our polluted climate and the urgency of rebuilding our economy with clean technology should be the Obama administration’s paramount concern. Their deferral of a commitment made to our nation’s youth in the midst of this crisis is a grave disappointment.

A. Siegel, in a Get Energy Smart NOW! cross-post.

Sometimes, your kids tell you great things: “We have the coolest house on the street.”

Wow. We’re cool — according to the kids. My fourth-grader son explained to me why: “Because we know where our electricity comes from.”

I have to admit, that is pretty cool.

Last fall, facing pressure about the absence of solar from the White House roof since the Reagan Administration took off the solar thermal panels President Carter put it, the Administration promised that the White House would have solar panels up on the roof “before the end of spring.” But as of today, June 17, 2011, the White House still doesn’t have solar panels on it.

The clock is ticking. Even with climate disruption messing up our seasons, spring still ends 20 June….

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