Obama unveils climate change plan; “less coal, for sure”; international, executive actions highlighted

Major push from Obama on climate change. Following on from March’s Energy Plan.

LCFS = Low Carbon Fuel Standard Less Coal, For Sure

What’s up? What’s the 6-point plan – what does it mean for you, and for biofuels?

The Digest’s 5-Minute Guide tells all.

In Washington, US President Barack Obama presented his sweeping climate change plan in an address at Georgetown University.

It was a 6,127 word address. Built atop a 21-page, 9,701-word Climate Action Plan. Following on from an equally massive Energy Plan that was unveiled in March.

The problems, as the President sees them, are two-fold.

First problem: A climate that won’t stop shifting.

“The 12 warmest years in recorded history have all come in the last 15 years,” he noted, “ice in the Arctic shrank to its smallest size on record, sea levels in New York Harbor are now a foot higher than a century ago, midwest farms were parched by the worst drought since the Dust Bowl, drenched by the wettest spring on record. Western wildfires scorched an area larger than the state of Maryland.”

“Firefighters are braving longer wildfire seasons, farmers see crops wilted one year, washed away the next; and the higher food prices get passed on to you. Mountain communities worry about what smaller snowpacks will mean for tourism, families at the bottom of the mountains wonder what it will mean for their drinking water. Americans across the country are already paying the price of inaction in insurance premiums, state and local taxes, and the costs of rebuilding and disaster relief.”

Second problem: a Congress that won’t start acting.

What the President has outlined are a series of executive actions, based on current law, that do not require enabling legislation from a divided Congress that is sure not to deliver any.

In today’s Digest, we highlight at the President’s 6-point plan, look at what’s new, what’s in there for biofuels, look back at the President’s companion Energy Plan from March, industry reaction, analysis from critics, look at the impact of money in the debate, and assess the bottom line. With infographics and charts to make for a fast read, all via the page links below.