Five Key Climate Guideposts for the Next Administration

WASHINGTON—In a new blog posted today on the website of Resources for the Future (RFF), author David J. Hayes writes, “Our nation can no longer put off actuating more aggressive climate change response actions that will appropriately reduce emission levels while preparing us for the changes that already are occurring.” He highlights five major “takeaways and recommendations” that emerged from a year-long Climate Implementation Project sponsored by Stanford University and the Hewlett Foundation. The project brought together leading Stanford experts, members of the business and environmental communities, and former high-level government officials from both republican and democratic administrations, to discuss policies and measures that the next president might employ to tackle the climate change challenge.

In his “Five Climate Guideposts for the Next Administration,” Hayes highlights five key ideas drawn from a rich compilation of recommendations that emerged from the Stanford Project. Ideas emerged from roundtable discussions, a major on-campus conference held on May 5th, and a recent presentation of papers at the National Press Club on September 15. The five guideposts featured in Hayes’ blog include:

1. Climate change is accelerating -- we need to act now, with urgency;
2. Scaling up clean energy technology will be critical; the private sector as well as universities and local, state, and federal government need to be involved;
3. Don’t let our infrastructure crisis go to waste – we need to make climate smart infrastructure investments;
4. Land use changes must be integrated into our climate agenda – land use is a major emissions source, a major carbon sequestration opportunity, and a key venue for clean energy siting and climate adaptation decision-making;
5. Climate change presents a “whole of government” challenge -- leadership and organization of the White House and the federal government agencies must be given serious attention.

David J. Hayes is a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer in Law at the Stanford Law School and a Consulting Professor with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. He previously served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior under Presidents Clinton and Obama.

Read the full blog: Five Climate Guideposts for the Next Administration