Statement from Carroll Muffett, President & CEO of Center for International Environmental Law on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan

Carroll Muffett, President & CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law, provides a critique of President Obama's June 2013 Climate Action Plan, arguing that while certain measures are necessary, the plan lacks the ambition and vision required to address the climate crisis.

• The Climate Action Plan includes necessary measures such as setting carbon pollution standards for new and existing U.S. coal plants and signaling that the Keystone XL pipeline will not be approved if it significantly exacerbates climate change.
• The plan is criticized for a lack of ambition, specifically for repeating a 2009 goal to reduce emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, which Muffett describes as inadequate.
• Muffett identifies inconsistencies in the plan, noting that while it aims to reduce public finance for new coal plants overseas, it calls for increased investments in the United States' role in exporting dirty energy and technology.
• The plan is viewed as insufficient regarding international leadership, offering little detail on UNFCCC commitments and providing global climate finance contributions of $7.5 billion over several years, which is contrasted against the $110 billion in climate-related disaster costs in the U.S. alone from the previous year.

APA

Muffett, C. (2013). Statement from Carroll Muffett, President & CEO of Center for International Environmental Law on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/news/statement-from-carroll-muffett-president-ceo-of-center-for-international-environmental-law-on-president-obamas-climate-action-plan/

Chicago

Muffett, Carroll. Statement from Carroll Muffett, President & CEO of Center for International Environmental Law on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan. Center for International Environmental Law, 2013. https://www.ciel.org/news/statement-from-carroll-muffett-president-ceo-of-center-for-international-environmental-law-on-president-obamas-climate-action-plan/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Muffett |first1=Carroll |title=Statement from Carroll Muffett, President & CEO of Center for International Environmental Law on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=1 June 2013 |url=https://www.ciel.org/news/statement-from-carroll-muffett-president-ceo-of-center-for-international-environmental-law-on-president-obamas-climate-action-plan/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{muffett2013statement, author = {Muffett, Carroll}, title = {{Statement from Carroll Muffett, President \& CEO of Center for International Environmental Law on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2013}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/news/statement-from-carroll-muffett-president-ceo-of-center-for-international-environmental-law-on-president-obamas-climate-action-plan/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }