However the debate will focus on the cost

Renowned American environmentalist, political circles, environmentalists and industry veteran, William Reilly was administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Agency for the protection of the environment American, from 1989 to 1992. He oversaw the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, introducing a market licence credited, among others, the drastic reduction in acid rain in the United States. President Emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund, it is currently affiliated with Texas Pacific Group, an investment company with more $ 50 billion of capital.

Will the new President find upon arrival of the ready-to-action teams

EPA staff is quite demoralized but it is primarily in waiting. He worked quietly for a time to prepare for the arrival of a new administration. I found a similar situation on my arrival at the EPA in 1989, when George Bush was elected. Despite the standstill in which the Agency had been reduced under Ronald Reagan, all of the substantive work had been done, in particular the economic analyses that have allowed us to move quickly on the development of the market licences of toxic emissions in the Clean Air Act amendments.

Will the transition to the White House have an impact on the ability of Congress to make progress on climate legislation

The intensity of the determination of the new President will be decisive. Indeed, the principle of federal legislation to Cap greenhouse gas emissions is more questioned. However, the debate will focus on the cost. It promises to be particularly difficult in the current economic context. The main challenge will be to reconcile the 26 coal producing States. What tools can be put in place to deter the exploitation of fossil fuels and coal in particular What will be the impact of the credit on the price of electricity markets Who will return to pay the difference Such are some of the sensitive points that members of Congress will debate and it will take some time. Should expect no legislation before 2010.

What levers the new President will to help him in his task

It will have two available. First, the Supreme Court said that CO2 is a pollutant gas and that EPA must regulate emissions subject to face justice for his inaction. Second, the Copenhagen Summit, end of 2009, provides an excellent reason to progress without delay on these issues, lest that the United States is not the loss of leadership in recent years on the international scene. After several years of hiatus, it seems inevitable that the new President, whatever it is, want to ensure that the United States resumed on the climate issue, the leadership role that corresponds to their status on the world stage.

How will the Federal climate policy be received by the States which have advanced on these issues for several years

It is likely that the California insurgera to impose on the rest of the country objectives for reduction of greenhouse gases which it is given back to the levels of 1990 by 2020 and 80 reduction below the levels of 1990 by 2050, Editor's note. It will certainly also authorized to maintain its exception and do not align its legislation on the Federal legislation. However, most States will be relieved that the Federal Government take succession and the responsibility to establish a unified national market of credits carbon. The Northeast States members of the credit Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) system, for example, fear of some industries gradually leave the region to settle in the South, where their pollution would cost them less, or even nothing.