Now that Barack Obama is set to formally announce his national security team, those of us who have wondering about the energy/environment component can start getting even more impatient (although as many have observed, the President-elect is moving with impressive speed).
There may be something of a roadblock, however. Maybe it is only a speedbump.
As I’ve noted before, the federal government is poorly constructed to adopt a coordinated energy/environment strategy. The Center for American Progress has proposed a National Energy Council in EOP to overcome this problem. But is this really doable?
Energy and environment cannot be hermetically sealed from other issues, particularly economic ones. And there already is a National Economic Council, where Larry Summers figures to take the pre-eminent role in policymaking. I find it hard to believe that he would not expect to take a leading role in energy as well. So then what do you do? Have another coordinating body to coordinate two other coordinating bodies?
Put another way: it’s beginning to get crowded at the White House.
