미국 오바마 행정부의 기후변화 에너지 정책

In June 2013, the President Obama released ‘Climate Action Plan’ which included the blueprint of the climate energy policy under his second term. The Plan reiterated the President's political will that climate policy would be at the top priority national agenda during his second term. In particular, his climate policies draw much attention because they are implemented under the sole executive authority as US Congress has not been able to promulgate any comprehensive climate legislation. The executive power to implement policies include regulations, executive orders, presidential proclamations, presidential memoranda, recommending legislations through executive communications, among others. The President Obama utilized all of these authority options when leading US climate energy policies, some of which have been proved as successful. However, many of his initiatives have been sued by the industry and have gone through judicial review, some of which has led to the rejection of EPA interpretation. Also, Clean Air Act may not be an appropriate legal ground for climate energy regulations. There is much attention toward the success of Obama Administration's climate policies and it is also interesting to see if his legacies will survive after his term. This article analyzes the US climate and energy policy during the Obama administration. In particular, this article describes the background of the US climate and energy policy, the legal authority of the presidential power in implementing policies and major climate and energy initiatives under the Obama administration. The article concludes that the Obama administration has successfully led a series of policy initiatives based on the presidential power, executive rule-making and economic stimulus package supporting clean energy despite the inaction of the Congress. The article also points out the legal instability of the Obama climate policies which heavily rely on the Clean Air Act.