U.S. softens demand that Russia expel leaker
WASHINGTON — Rebuffed by Russia’s president, the Obama administration toned down demands Tuesday that fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden be expelled from a Moscow airport in a sign that the U.S. believes he is not worth scuttling diplomatic relations between the former Cold War enemies.
The White House issued a measured, if pointed, statement asking again that Russia help U.S. authorities capture Snowden — but stopped far
is doing too little to stop it. Obama said the price for inaction includes lost lives and homes and billions of dollars.
“As a president, as a father and as an American, I’m here to say we need to act,” Obama said. “I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that’s beyond fixing.”
At the core of Obama’s plan are controls on new and existing power plants that emit carbon dioxide, heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming. His program also will boost renewable energy production on federal lands, increase efficiency standards and prepare communities to deal with higher temperatures.
Obama called for the United States to be a leader in the search for solutions.
His campaign will face extensive obstacles, including a complicated, lengthy process of implementation and the likelihood that limits on power plants will be challenged in court.
Declaring the debate over climate change and its causes obsolete, Obama mocked those who deny that humans are contributing to the warming of the planet, saying, “We don’t have time for a meeting of the flat-earth society.”
Obama’s announcement follows years of inaction by Congress to combat climate change. A first-term effort to use a market-based approach called capand-trade to lower emissions failed, and in February a newly re-elected Obama told lawmakers in his State of the Union: “If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will.”
Four months later, environmental activists reveled in the news that Obama was announcing steps that don’t require congressional approval.
But Republicans dubbed Obama’s plan a continuation of his “war on coal” and “war on jobs.” And the National Association of Manufacturers claimed Obama’s proposals would drive up costs.
Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito of the coal-heavy state of West Virginia slammed what she called Obama’s “tyrannical efforts to bankrupt the coal industry.”
Even industry groups that have been friendly to Obama and supportive of his climate goals, such as the Edison Electric Institute, which represents power plants, called for “achievable compliance limits and deadlines.”
Obama also offered an insight into his deliberations on whether to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, deeming it in America’s interests only if it does not worsen carbon pollution.
He has faced pressure from supporters and opponents of the 1,200-mile pipeline from Canada to Texas.
The pipeline would carry carbon-intensive oil from Canadian tar sands to the Texas Gulf Coast refineries, and it has sparked a partisan fight.
“Our national interest would be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution,” Obama said.
White House officials said Obama was referring to overall net emissions that take into account what would happen under alternative scenarios. A State Department report said other methods to transport the oil, such as shipping it on trains, could yield even higher emissions.
“The standard the president set today should lead to speedy approval of the Keystone pipeline,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Announcing he will allow more renewable energy projects on public lands, Obama set a goal to power the equivalent of 6 million homes by 2020 from sources such as wind and solar, effectively doubling the current capacity.
The set of actions also includes a new set of fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty trucks, more aggressive efficiency targets for buildings and appliances, and $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to spur innovation.
The most sweeping element is new limits on carbon dioxide pollution from power plants.
Obama already has proposed rules for new coal-fired plants, but they have been delayed amid concerns about the cost.
A presidential memorandum directs the EPA to revise and reissue the new plant rules by September, then finalize them “in a timely fashion.”