Top Five Energy Stories of Obama’s Presidency
Posted January 26, 2012 at 3:43 pm 
Filed in: Automotive, Legislation, Oil Dependence, Policy, Transportation Tuesday night in President Obama’s third State of the Union Address, energy once again took a front seat. The speech included provisions to please both sides of the aisle: continuing to increase offshore drilling, expanded clean energy development on public land, and continued natural gas production (with new disclosure rules for frackers), the Wall Street Journal reports.
Energy has played a prominent role in politics during the Obama presidency, and as notable as what he mentioned is what he omitted: Keystone and Solyndra. Conservatives have already responded with criticisms of Obama’s record on oil and gas drilling, continuing to push for the Keystone XL Pipeline, and it is safe to assume these issues will remain forefront as the race for the White House continues. Today is the perfect opportunity to look back at the major energy stories of Obama’s Presidency, and what some of their implications might be for his reelection campaign.
5) Cap and Trade
On Obama’s election night, he famously said “this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal,” raising environmentalists’ hopes that a domestic cap and trade policy would be passed. In 2010, with Democrats holding the executive branch as well as both chambers of Congress, proponents of the environmental policy hoped the carbon mitigation mechanism they had been promoting for more than a decade would finally come to fruition. However, with the growth of the Tea Party movement, worries about excessive government spending, sluggish economic growth in the wake of the financial crisis, strong industry opposition and the complexity of the policy mechanism itself, cap and trade slowly died.
Campaign liability: Very low. Environmental economists disagree about the best implementation of cap and trade, not to mention inconclusive levels of public support for government action to reduce carbon emissions in general.
4) The Macondo Well Explosion
The catastrophic oil spill which lasted from April through July of 2010 was the worst open-water oil spill in American history, and devastated the Gulf coast region in addition to killing a number of oil field workers. The spill was a huge wake-up call to the potentially devastating consequences of reckless drilling practices, and caused a temporary moratorium on drilling in the Gulf.
Campaign liability: Low. The Obama Administration took a number of steps to restore confidence that the cleanup was effective, most notably by Obama himself taking a dip on the Florida coast with his daughter Malia. Although the spill caused a temporary moratorium on drilling in the Gulf, the White House claims overall oil and gas production has increased during Obama’s presidency. That said, oil and gas leasing on federal land is likely to be subject of extensive debate.
3) CAFE Standards
In summer of 2011, the Obama Administration announced it was increasing the fuel economy standards announced by the Bush Administration in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. By 2025, cars and (for the first time) light duty trucks will have to reach an average of 54.4 miles per gallon (mpg). The rules will account for 90 percent of all vehicles sold within the United States, and was a substantial increase over the 35 mpg by 2020 established by Bush.
Campaign liability: Negligible. The New York Times reported this week that the proposed rules are a win across virtually all stakeholders, as they “create jobs, reduce oil consumption, create cleaner air and save drivers money, all while helping automakers increase their profits.”
2) Keystone XL
Obama rejected TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline earlier this week. The long-awaited decision was a divisive one: protests waged outside the White House for weeks, Congressional Republicans forced Obama to expedite his decision with language attached to the tax bill at the end of 2011, and the American Petroleum Institute (API) launched a national ad campaign in support of the pipeline earlier this month, just to name a few events from the drawn out pipeline battle (which, according to some sources, is far from over).
Campaign liability: Unclear. The Keystone issue is a touchy one, as it has been perceived as a polarizing decision between jobs and the environment. For some, the decision was in direct conflict with the recommendations of the Presidential Jobs Council, and Republicans are unified in opposition against rejecting the opportunity to create domestic construction jobs. However, in the words of one expert, “No one who was planning on voting against the president would have been won over simply because of the approval of Keystone.”
1) Solyndra
Solyndra, the solar panel manufacturer and recipient of a $500 million Department of Energy loan, went bankrupt in fall of 2011. Occurring in the immediate wake of the last-minute debt ceiling negotiations, when government spending was front and center, what was at first a source of pride for the Obama Administration has become a PR nightmare, as well as sparking a debate over the legitimacy of the Department of Energy’s entire Loan Guarantee Program.
Campaign liability: Potentially high. The first Obama 2012 ad released by the reelection campaign has focused on green energy, and some are speculating it’s a preemptive strike against Solyndra-based attacks. Critics have argued that DOE’s loans are an example of “government playing venture capitalist,” while others argue it’s important for the federal government to encourage technologies in support of the public good. We fully expect this issue to be used as a symbol for Republican’s opposition to the Obama “Green Jobs” agenda, and it will remain on the opposition’s talking points throughout the campaign cycle.
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