Morning Brief: Obama to outline new climate change plan in speech

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Obama to outline new climate change plan Top news: U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to make a major push to address climate change on Tuesday, outlining a series of executive actions designed to curb carbon emissions. The plan, to be laid out in a speech at Georgetown University, is the president's most ambitious effort to confront what he has called "the global threat of our time" since he backed a failed cap-and-trade bill in 2009. Tellingly, it requires no congressional action. Among the measures Obama is expected to announce is a presidential memorandum directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish emissions standards for new and existing power plants. The directive will require the EPA to work with state governments and industry to draw up the new regulations, which could potentially force utility companies to shutter coal power plants in favor of cleaner energy sources. (Coal company shares took a tumble on Monday in anticipation of Obama's speech.) Additionally, the president is expected to roll out up to $8 billion in loan guarantees for advanced fossil fuel efficiency projects, as well as fast-track permits for renewable energy projects on public lands. Time has a full list of presidential actions to be announced today. Snowden Affair: Both Russia and China on Tuesday pushed back against U.S. criticism of their role in Edward Snowden's flight from Hong Kong to Russia, saying they had no hand in the NSA leaker's travel arrangements. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, meanwhile, has made no secret of his involvement in the plot to ferry Snowden to freedom in Ecuador, where he has requested asylum. Speaking from his hideout in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, Assange told reporters that Snowden is in a "safe place" and "bound for Ecuador via a safe path through Russia and other states." Middle East Egyptian authorities on Tuesday arrested eight people in connection with the killing of five Shiite Muslims in a Cairo suburb over the weekend. Ten car bombs rocked the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday, killing at least 39 people. Gunmen killed six Libyan soldiers at a checkpoint south of the coastal city of Sirte, once a stronghold of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi. Africa West African leaders on Monday called for the deployment of an international anti-piracy force to improve the security situation in the Gulf of Guinea. Former South African President Nelson Mandela remains in critical condition ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Pretoria this week. A gold mine collapsed in Ndassima, Central African Republic on Monday, killing at least 37 people. Asia Gunmen attacked the presidential palace in Afghanistan early in the morning on Tuesday. Chinese stocks took their hardest hit since 2009 on Tuesday over the government's credit-tightening policy, but mostly recovered by day's end. Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng praised Taiwan's democracy on Monday at a press conference in Taipei. Americas Brazilian President Dilma Roussef on Monday proposed a set of sweeping political reforms in response to this month's unprecedented popular protests. The Obama administration is considering cancelling an Energy Department program that transforms plutonium from retired nuclear weapons into fuel for nuclear plants. Mexican prosecutors on Monday charged former Tabasco state Gov. Andres Granier with embezzlement and money laundering. Europe The European Union on Tuesday delayed a new round of membership talks with Turkey over the government's harsh response to protests. Former Italian Prime Minister Emilio Colombo has died at the age of 93. An Italian court on Monday sentenced former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to seven years in prison for abuse of office and paying for sex with a minor. -By Ty McCormick Getty Images The Latest from FP Mitt Romney Was Right - By John Arquilla Nuclear Waste - By Douglas Birch and R. Jeffrey Smith The Great Black North - An FP Slideshow Peace Out - By Hamdullah Mohib and Lael Mohib A Bolivarian Dream Deferred - By Michael Shifter FP Passport Blog | ForeignPolicy.com | Subscribe to FP | Feedback | About FP FOREIGN POLICY | 1899 L Street NW, Suite 550 | Washington, DC 20036 © 2011 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC. FOREIGN POLICY is published by the Slate Group, a division of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive.

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