Last time I discussed the changes I’d noticed in President Obama’s leadership style and how pleasantly surprised I was that he used his 2013 inauguration speech to put climate change at the top of his second-term agenda.
Last time I discussed the changes I’d noticed in President Obama’s leadership style and how pleasantly surprised I was that he used his 2013 inauguration speech to put climate change at the top of his second-term agenda.
Having campaigned on a promise to rise above the partisan politics that was crippling our country’s ability to effectively address its many problems, during his first term President Obama made a conscious effort to propose legislation that would appeal to Congressional Republicans, even though he knew doing so would anger many of his Democratic supporters. The president thought that by making concessions prior to negotiations he would encourage a ‘good faith’ response that would lead to bipartisan legislation supported by his Republican opponents.
But instead of responding in ‘good faith’, Congressional Republicans pocketed the president’s concession and began to demand additional concessions that they knew Democrats would never agree to. Republicans viewed the president’s initial concessions as a sign of weakness and decided to oppose him at every turn. By preventing Obama from fulfilling his campaign promises, Republicans figured voters would blame the president and not re-elect him for a second term. But they figured wrong!
But as I have previously noted, there is no other job in the world that can ever really prepare someone for the job of being President of the United States of America. So from my perspective, first-term Obama was simply not a very good negotiator. He was an idealist who thought he could persuade his Republican opponents to act like adults instead of like a bunch of squabbling children. But as soon as he was elected to his second term, President Obama has shown that he had learned a lot from his previous mistakes. Based on what I have seen in the past three months, second-term Obama has become a realist and a much stronger negotiator.
For example, unlike the first four years, this past December President Obama made a very public point of telling Republicans that he would not negotiate over raising the nation’s debt ceiling. Period.
Congressional Republicans had been trying to use the threat of not approving an increase in the debt ceiling to negotiate for additional spending cuts like they did back in 2011. They fumed and complained about the president’s refusal to negotiate with them again, but finally backed down at the end of January and approved a temporary increase in the debt ceiling.
In the area of climate change, first-term Obama believed negotiating a compromise with Republicans on comprehensive cap and trade legislation to reduce emissions would be more politically acceptable than using his executive powers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force emission reductions. But since he failed to achieve a legislative solution, second-term Obama has apparently decided to work around Congressional Republicans rather than continue to seek a compromise on climate change legislation.
The EPA already has the legal authority to regulate emissions nationwide, and since its top officials are appointed by and report to the president, Obama has instructed them to draft new regulations that will put the clamps on carbon emissions from both new and old power plants, particularly the coal-fired power plants that supply 46 per cent of America’s electricity. While there have only been 12 new coal-fired power plants built in America over the last 20 years, the average age of US coal-fired electricity generating plants is 45 years, and these generators account for almost one third of America’s carbon emissions.
Second-term Obama will also issue new energy efficiency standards for home appliances and buildings that will lead to substantial emissions reductions akin to those achieved through the new fuel economy standards for American automobiles he pushed through Congress in his first term. And last but not least, he has also decided to use his ‘bully pulpit’ to build public support for his new emissions reduction regulations instead of wasting his time trying to win support from Congressional Republicans.
While it still remains to be seen if second-term Obama will be more successful than his predecessor in addressing America’s budget deficit, entitlement spending, gun control and immigration problems, I for one am very pleased with what he plans to do to address climate change.
Charles Laffiteau is a US Republican from Dallas, Texas who is pursuing a PhD in Public Policy and Political Economy. He previously lectured on Contemporary US Business & Society at DCU from 2009-2011.
