Today, President Obama has indicated his intention to nominate two key members of his energy and environmental team:  Gina McCarthy for EPA Administrator and Ernie Moniz for Energy Secretary.  These two individuals seem fit to task of the agencies they will lead if confirmed.  However, both will face substantial policy…

By Scott H. Segal The voters have now spoken in one of the most hotly contested and expensive races in American history, and the net effect of countervailing political winds was ironically to perpetuate the political status quo. For those stunned at the amount of money spent on this race, the…

By Frank Maisano and Catherine McCarthy President Obama’s re-election is a positive development for supporters of and investors in renewable energy and therefore a significant development for the transmission policies that will be required to implement clean energy. Of course, a robust transmission policy impacts all electricity generation and will benefit…

By Jeffrey Holmstead, Scott Segal and Salo Zelermyer Regardless of the final result, one thing is certain: the debate that took place in the 2012 election cycle over energy and environmental issues was a diametrically different debate that the one that took place just four years ago. Cap-and-trade legislation? Nowhere to…

By Dee Martin With the reelection of President Obama, a full repeal of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) appears unlikely. In the current political climate, any attempts by House Republicans to roll back the law would likely be rejected by a Democratic Senate and vetoed…

By Michael L. Pate Congress reconvenes on November 13, the legislature will be faced with issues they have been postponing the entire year: the so-called Fiscal Cliff. With basically a status quo election, there is a good chance that the Fiscal Cliff issues will be dealt with prior to the…

By George Felcyn President Obama describes his energy policy as an “All of the Above” approach that encourages production of traditional fossil fuels while supporting the growth of renewables. Despite an increase in overall U.S. energy production over the past four years, output in federal waters of the Gulf of…

By Jason Hutt and Salo Zelermyer The extraordinary increase in the production of natural gas from shale formations in the U.S. played a central role in the 2012 elections. As President Obama and Governor Romney campaigned throughout the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado and elsewhere, the campaign often…

By Ed Krenik and Paul Nathanson Introduction With the re-election of President Obama, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will continue to have a majority of Commissioners from the President’s party.  The continuation of the status quo may result in a more activist CPSC, including attempts to pass more mandatory…

By George Felcyn One provision of Dodd-Frank that has flown largely under the radar since it took hold in 2011 is the “Shareholder Approval of Executive Compensation” provision, also known as “Say on Pay”, meant to foster shareholder participation and promote accountability in executive pay packages.  The provision was designed…

By M. Justin Ackley The Department of Defense and the Armed Services face uncertain times heading into 2013.  The decisions made during the debt limit fight of 2011 led to the Budget Control Act and the ill-fated “Super Committee.”  In November 2011, after the Super Committee failed to create a…

By Paul Nathanson  Manufacturing could be called the “comeback player of the year” in Washington, D.C.  Both Governor Romney and President Obama stressed support for the manufacturing sector during the presidential campaign.  President Obama mentioned the word “manufacturing” 16 times in his most recent State of the Union address in…

By Gene Godley, Paul Nathanson and Josh Zive The effort to grow the U.S. economy has led to predictable stalemates on trade policy and international commerce over the past couple of years.  As a result of disputes involving environmental, labor, and competitiveness concerns, most free trade initiatives stalled in Congress or during international negotiations…