Lisa Jackson, head of the EPA, is the belle of the Copenhagen ball. WSJ:
Lisa Jackson, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, had her “veni, vidi, vici” moment in Copenhagen at the big climate summit today.
She got a rousing welcome just two days after the EPA finalized its ruling on greenhouse-gas emissions, a preview perhaps of the reception awaiting President Obama when he visits Copenhagen near the end of the summit. She also stressed that the U.N. summit was not the “impetus” for her agency’s big ruling, but a fortuitous coincidence.
The EPA ruling gives the Obama administration more negotiating leverage at the summit — even though climate legislation is stalled in the Senate, it can point to concrete action to tackle emissions.
The EPA ruling by itself is widely seen either as a way to prod Congress into passing climate legislation, or as a way to regulate emissions through executive action. Widely seen that way, perhaps — but not by Ms. Jackson.
The rest here.