Ex-EPA official sees narrow openings for climate progress
Carbon-capture technology and nuclear power are two potential areas of bipartisan agreement on the environment over the next four years, a period in which progress will likely be slow, according to a former top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official. With the White House and Congress controlled by Republicans who have questioned whether climate change is real, the prospects for comprehensive national policies and a price on carbon to encourage emissions reductions are vanishingly small, said Robert Perciasepe, who now runs a nonpartisan think tank, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, after years of service as deputy EPA administrator under President Obama. But smaller opportunities exist, he said. A significant portion of the world’s power still will be provided by fossil fuels in the decades to come, making technology to remove carbon from their emissions critical if climate change is to be addressed. “There will be coal plants burning in 2050,” said Perciasepe, speaking...