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

Carroll Muffett of the Center for International Environmental Law evaluates President Obama's Climate Action Plan, praising the commitment to carbon pollution standards for coal plants and the potential rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. However, Muffett criticizes the plan for its reliance on natural gas as a 'bridge fuel,' the lack of new greenhouse gas reduction targets beyond the 2009 goal, and insufficient commitments to global climate finance.

• The plan's domestic measures to establish carbon pollution standards for new and existing U.S. coal plants are considered warranted and a significant contribution to addressing climate change, though the exercise of this authority is described as belated.
• The document identifies a lack of ambition in the plan's emissions targets, noting that it merely repeats the 2009 goal of reducing emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, which is deemed inadequate.
• There is a perceived inconsistency in the plan regarding fossil fuels: while it aims to reduce public finance for new coal plants overseas, it calls for increased investments in the U.S. role of exporting dirty energy and technology, and promotes natural gas as a bridge fuel.
• The plan's approach to global climate finance is criticized as insufficient, with U.S. contributions of $7.5 billion over several years described as being dwarfed by the scale of the problem, especially when compared to the $110 billion cost of climate-related disasters in the U.S. in the previous year.
• The document notes that the plan lacks detail on U.S. commitments within the UNFCCC and suggests that the goal of securing free trade in environmental goods may interfere with the ability of countries to implement legitimate climate measures.

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} }