Obama Wants His Climate Plans to Hit You Where You Live

Saying this is "not the time to pull back" on renewable energy, President Obama on Monday challenged conservative groups and Republicans who have sought to limit his climate-change agenda.

In a speech at a Las Vegas clean-energy summit hosted by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Obama emphasized the growth of the renewable-energy industry down to the household level and its role in meeting his administration's climate-change goals. And he had a message for Republicans who have fought his energy agenda: Clean power is here to stay.

"We refuse to surrender the hope of a clean-energy future to those who fight against it," Obama said at Reid's National Clean Energy Summit.

Obama highlighted the efforts that private companies and even some utilities, like Southern Company, have made to invest in renewable energy or allow homeowners to go green, measures that have helped bring down the cost of wind and solar and make it more competitive with fossil fuels.

Those stand in contrast, he said, to the efforts of "fossil-fuel interests or conservative interests or the Koch Brothers" to roll back renewable-energy incentives. Conservative groups, notably the Koch-aligned American Legislative Exchange Council, have pushed legislation on the state level to repeal renewable-energy standards and other clean-energy incentives.

To wit: The Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank, held its own "affordable energy summit" in the same hotel as Reid's conference in a bid to promote the idea that the renewables push would "inevitably cause skyrocketing electricity prices," according to a press release.

Ahead of the speech, the White House unveiled a number of executive actions to help homeowners and businesses invest in renewable energy, including a $1 billion loan-guarantee program for small-scale green power projects, like rooftop solar. The White House also issued new guidance from the Federal Housing Administration to promote use of Property-Assessed Clean Energy financing, a loan program designed to help homeowners install energy improvements that has been curtailed by regulatory obstacles.

They are moves that can take Obama's tentpole climate regulation to the individual level. The Clean Power Plan—announced earlier this month—requires states to cut emissions from the power sector through measures that include more wind and solar power. Congressional Republicans are expected to tee up several attacks on the rules when they return from recess next month.

But Obama highlighted the role individuals, not lawmakers, will play in helping grow the market for renewables. "People are beginning to realize they can take more control over their own energy—what kind they use, how much, and when," he said.

As part of a climate deal with Brazil, the White House also pledged to get 20 percent of the country's power from non-hydro renewable sources by 2030.

Obama's speech is the first of a string of events designed to promote his climate agenda. Later this week, he will speak about resilience and adaptation to climate change in New Orleans during events marking the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, then will travel to Alaska to highlight the impact climate change is having on the Arctic.