President Obama’s Big Carbon Crackdown Will Probably Skirt the Law

The run up to the Paris climate confab in 2015 will probably showcase some interesting political dynamics and great political theater. It will be in all the papers. Grab some popcorn and settle in for the show.
First up, Politico:
President Obama’s big carbon crackdown readies for launch

The EPA will launch the most dramatic anti-pollution regulation in a generation early next month, a sweeping crackdown on carbon that offers President Barack Obama his last real shot at a legacy on climate change — while causing significant political peril for red-state Democrats.

The move could produce a dramatic makeover of the power industry, shifting it away from coal-burning plants toward natural gas, solar and wind. While this is the big move environmentalists have been yearning for, it also has major political implications in November for a president already under fire for what the GOP is branding a job-killing “War on Coal,” and promises to be an election issue in energy-producing states such as West Virginia, Kentucky and Louisiana.

The EPA’s proposed rule is aimed at scaling back carbon emissions from existing power plants, the nation’s largest source of greenhouse gases. It’s scheduled for a public rollout June 2, after months of efforts by the administration to publicize the mounting scientific evidence that rising seas, melting glaciers and worsening storms pose a danger to human society....MUCH MORE

And from Bloomberg:

Obama Said to Consider Power-Plant Rule That Tests Law

The Obama administration is considering cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants by reaching beyond the plants themselves -- an unusual approach that could run afoul of anti-pollution laws.

People familiar with the discussions say the administration is seeking steep reductions -- as much as 25 percent -- that could be met if power plant owners expand renewable energy, improve the efficiency of their grids or encourage customers to use less power.

There’s disagreement even within the administration about what’s allowable under the Clean Air Act, the law that gives it the authority to curb emissions. Some administration attorneys are warning that the government could lose a legal challenge if it seeks to regulate beyond a plant’s smokestack, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the rule is still being written.

The full mandate may be phased in over 15 years, as a way to soften the blow on utilities. The rules will probably draw fierce resistance from coal companies and their allies in Congress who warn of higher electricity prices and lost jobs.

“My gut tells me they’re going to go down the path of desirability and not reliability, of what they’d like to see in a perfect world,” said Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat allied with the coal industry. “That’s fine but we’re not there.”

A White House official who requested anonymity says a final decision hasn’t been made....MORE 

We've been planning for the money making possibilities since 2008, here's June 2013's "The Obama Climate Plan, June 2013: Sweeping Executive Power":

There is going to be a lot of money made because of these policy prescriptions.
Just so we're clear, I lean towards the sentiments expressed in The Bored Whore of Kyoto:

..."I don't know if climate change is caused by burning coal or sun flares or what," said the Moscow-based carbon cowboy. "And I don't really give a shit. Russia is the most energy inefficient country around, and carbon is the most volatile market ever. There's a lot of opportunity to make money."...

Since the Big U.N. meeting in Rio back in 1992 I've read something on the order of 120,000 pages on the science, economics, finance, policy, law and politics of global warming. Add in some expertise in the investment field and, as the Brit nature shows used to say when the lion was going after the old wildebeest, "Sadly now, there can be but one outcome...":

The purpose of this blog is to make money.

It is not to argue science or to lobby for one policy or another. We play the cards we're dealt.

So off we go.

We've been pointing out a little known document that was drawn up for President Obama prior to the 2008 election since, well, since the day it appeared on the internet.
From a 2011 post, "Here Come the Presidential Executive Orders":

From an email response I sent a friend during the budget ceiling negotiations last August regarding the options available to the Government and the Fed:

I have some arcane knowledge of the workings of the Fed and see no impediments there. As to the trust funds, the enabling legislation either exists or could probably be more easily written than the ceiling legislation.

I keep coming back to the President though. Executive orders give so much latitude, especially when couched in state of emergency terms, that my reading is the Exec can do pretty much as he pleases,

Back in 2008 some barrister types were making that argument re: climate change policy, potential constitutional crisis be damned.

The link goes to a 213 page PDF under the imprimatur of the University of Colorado Law School titled:

THE BOUNDARIES OF EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY
Using Executive Orders to Implement
Federal Climate Change Policy

That's the framework of possibilities.
Here's the blueprint via The Hill:

Obama unveils climate change plan that goes around Congress

President Obama is launching fresh battles over climate change with plans to curb emissions using executive powers that sidestep Congress — including controversial rules to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants.
[WATCH VIDEO]

The wide-ranging plan, which Obama will tout in a speech later Tuesday, also beefs up federal efforts to help deploy low-carbon and renewable energy, and has programs to help harden communities against climate-fueled extreme weather.

Internationally, it seeks to knock down trade barriers to climate-friendly goods and services; enhance cooperation with India, China and other big carbon emitters; and curb U.S. support for overseas coal plant construction, among many other steps.

The plan is designed to get around Congress, where major climate bills have no political traction. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that Obama’s executive approach “reflects reality.”

But the plan, especially its controversial Environmental Protection Agency   power plant regulations, will nonetheless face big hurdles on and off Capitol Hill.

That’s especially true when it comes to far-reaching rules to curb carbon from existing power plants, which account for around a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, largely due to coal-plant emissions.Tackling existing plants is a step the EPA has previously said it would take, but now, for the first time, the agency has open White House backing.

The EPA will propose the existing plant standards by June of next year and finalize them a year later, an administration official said.

White House officials also say the administration will float a modified proposal for new plants later this year amid delays in a draft rule unveiled in 2012.

One eventual option for opponents of the rules would be the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a mid-1990s law that allows Congress to nullify final agency regulations.

The rule has been used successfully just once: to overturn a Clinton-era ergonomics rule....MORE

The President's Climate Action Plan (21 page PDF)

There are many more posts on this topic. If interested use the keyword search box top left.
For example Nov. 10, 2008's "Climate Politics: [President-Elect] 'Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions'" is good for some ideas.