Part of the Executive Office of the President, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) coordinates federal environmental efforts and helps to develop environmental policies and initiatives. The CEQ also reports to the President on an annual basis about the state of the environment, oversees federal agency implementation of the environmental impact assessment process and settles disputes when agencies disagree about the findings of these assessments. During the administration of President George W. Bush, the CEQ has been accused of being a tool for industry, especially the oil industry. Several high-ranking officials on the council have close ties to petroleum businesses, leaving environmentalists to accuse the Bush administration of turning the CEQ into another example of the wolf guarding the chicken coop.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) was established within the Executive Office of the President as part of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Its focus was to establish a national policy on the environment and require environmental impact statements (EISs) be filed on major federal actions.
NEPA came about as a direct result of widespread protests in the US following the governments’ destruction of neighborhoods and the environment during the construction of the federal highway system in the 1950s and 1960s. NEPA, as written, encourages “productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment, topromote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation.”
NEPA outlines a national environmental policy and is supposed to ensure that agencies within the federal government will consider this policy in their decision-making process, often requiring that an agency prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that outlines any potential environmental impact of the agency’s activities.
In order for officials to determine the need of producing an EIS, an office first conducts an Environmental Assessment (EA) to determine whether or not the proposed action requires an EIS. An EA considers the impacts of the proposed action and alternatives. It may conclude with a recommendation to prepare an EIS, or it may conclude with a recommendation to prepare a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). If more than one federal agency is involved in a particular project, multiple EAs may be required.
NEPA requires that an EIS must include descriptions of the environmental impacts of the proposed action; any unavoidable adverse environmental impacts; alternatives, including no action; the relationship between short-term uses of the environment and maintenance of long-term ecological commitments of resources; and secondary/cumulative effects of implementing the proposed action.
The Council on Environmental Quality is responsible for coordinating federal environmental efforts and helping to develop environmental policies and initiatives. The CEQ also reports to the President on an annual basis about the state of the environment, oversees federal agency implementation of the environmental impact assessment process and settles disputes when agencies disagree about the findings of these assessments.
Under the Council on Environmental Quality is the Committee on Ocean Policy. According to the Ocean Act of 2000, the Committee on Ocean Policy develops a comprehensive report on resource protection, transportation, ocean resource use, science, education, mapping and other topics. The committee advises the President and agency heads on the establishment or implementation of policies concerning certain ocean-related matters. Membership on the committee consists of the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Homeland Security and the US Attorney General.
Other members include the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Director of National Intelligence, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the director of the National Science Foundation, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the assistants to the President for National Security Affairs, Homeland Security, Domestic Policy and Economic Policy, plus an employee of the Office of the Vice President.
The Council on Environmental Quality also works with the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE). Under Executive Order (EO) 13423, the Federal Environmental Executive (FEE) chairs a steering committee composed of the chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the administrator of the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy and senior agency officials.
OFEE advises federal agencies, makes recommendations concerning policy, facilitates implementation, provides a centralized focal point for assistance and direction and helps educate and train people in the requirements of the EO 13423. The steering committee members are selected from among the President’s chief advisors on environmental and acquisition issues.
Current initiatives include reducing emissions and fighting global warming and climate change. In February 2002, President Bush committed the United States to his version of a strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas emission intensity of the American economy by 18% by 2012. Meeting this commitment will prevent more than 500 million metric tons of carbon-equivalent emissions through 2012, the equivalent of taking 70 million cars off the road, argues the OFEE.
Additional areas of focus for the Council on Environmental Quality include these programs and initiatives:
Energy Policy Act of 2005, which authorized $5 billion over five years in tax incentives to encourage investments in energy efficiency and alternative renewable energy sources. The new energy law provides new performance-based tax credits of up to $3,400 for the most highly fuel efficient vehicles, such as hybrids and clean diesel. It also establishes 15 new appliance efficiency mandates and a 7.5 billion gallon renewable fuel requirement by 2012.
Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) is a multi-agency effort that increases the development and use of key technologies aimed at reducing green-house-gas emissions. The intent of this program is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by stimulating the development and use of renewable, clean coal, fusion, nuclear and other energy technologies and by increasing energy efficiency throughout the US economy.
Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) is a multi-agency program led by the Department of Commerce that investigates natural and human-induced changes in the Earth’s global environmental system and provides a scientific basis for national and international decision-making.
Improved Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards includes two sets of regulations adopted by the Bush administration requiring a combined 15% increase in the fuel economy of light trucks. For the first time, large Sport Utility Vehicles, including Hummers, are required to meet the standards. The administration is implementing program improvements recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. These actions are projected to save more than 14 billion gallons of gasoline over the lifetime of these trucks and correspondingly avoid nearly 177 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Surface Transportation Programs, operated by the Department of Transportation, are used by state and local transportation agencies to help reduce fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program and innovative finance programs help fund projects like truck stop electrification for reduced truck idling and diesel retrofit. Transit funds are available for purchase of hydrogen-powered and other clean-fueled buses by local governments. The Federal Aviation Administration is pursuing initiatives for more efficient air traffic management that will reduce aircraft fuel use, and FAA’s Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emission Reduction is conducting research on climate change impacts of aviation.
SmartWay Transportation Partnership is a voluntary partnership between various freight industry sectors and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed to increase energy efficiency while reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution. By 2012, this initiative aims to reduce between 33 and 66 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and up to 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions per year.
Energy STAR works with more than 8,000 private and public sector organizations to identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Energy STAR label is now on major appliances, office equipment, lighting, home electronics and more. EPA has also extended the label to cover new homes and commercial and industrial buildings.
Natural Gas STAR is a voluntary partnership between EPA and the oil and natural gas industry. Through the program, EPA works with companies to identify and promote the use of cost-effective technologies and practices to reduce emissions of methane. As of 2005, the companies participating in Natural Gas STAR represented 56% of the natural gas industry. The program has almost 120 partner companies and is endorsed by 19 major industry trade associations.
USDA Programs, led by the Secretary of Agriculture, are providing targeted incentives to encourage wider use of land management practices that remove carbon from the atmosphere or reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. USDA’s initiatives encourage the increased use of biomass energy, crop and grazing land conservation actions, practices to reduce emissions from agriculture, and sustainable forest management. USDA is targeting greenhouse gases and carbon sequestration through the conservation programs it administers and set a target to reduce 44 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions by 2012. These incentives come in part from an increase in funding for conservation programs on private lands of $17.1 billion over 10 years as authorized by the Farm Bill of 2002.
Climate Leaders is an EPA partnership that encourages individual companies to develop long-term climate change strategies. Partner companies develop corporation-wide air pollution inventories that cover all emission sources of the six major gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6), set a corporate-wide GHG emissions reduction goal to be achieved over five to 10 years, and report inventory data annually and document progress toward their emissions reduction goal. Since its inception in 2002, Climate Leaders has grown to include nearly 100 corporations whose revenues add up to almost 10% of the United States’ gross domestic product and whose emissions represent 8% of total US greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate VISION is a public-partnership program established to contribute to the President’s emission intensity reduction goal. Fourteen major industrial sectors and the Business Roundtable have committed to work with Departments of Energy, Transportation and Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade.
Hydrogen Fuel Initiative works in partnership with the private sector to accelerate the research and development of hydrogen-based power supplies. The Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and the FreedomCAR Partnership are providing nearly $1.72 billion to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cells, hydrogen infrastructure technologies, and advanced automobile technologies.
Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emissions Registry (“1605(b)”) allows businesses and institutions to submit reports on their greenhouse gas emissions, sequestration and reductions. Under the revised program, utilities, industries and other large emitters of greenhouse gases can now demonstrate net, entity-wide reductions, based on emission intensity or other eligible measures and be recognized for “registered reductions.” Provisions encourage participation in the program by small emitters of greenhouse gases, such as farmers, forest owners and small businesses. Small emitters can either report on their own or partner with a larger group to report greenhouse gas reduction benefits.
Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)
works to reduce the cost and environmental impact of the federal government by advancing energy efficiency and water conservation, promoting the use of distributed and renewable energy, and improving utility management decisions at federal sites. Federal agencies have achieved nearly a 30% reduction in British Thermal Units (BTUs) per square foot energy consumption at federal facilities sine 1985. The EPA Act of 2005 established even more aggressive requirements for federal agencies to further decrease BTU per square foot energy consumption at federal facilities by more than 2% per year for 10 years.
The Council's $3 million annual budget is currently spent on support and administrative staff, as well as salaries, office and communications expenses.
Environmental Groups Reject Bush's Policies on the Environment
A 2003 Environmental Health Perspectives report revealed that controversy was brewing as the Bush Administration lost touch with its own mandate as far as protection of the environment was concerned. David Rejeski, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and former employee of the CEQ and EPA, explained that the role of the CEQ would depend on the personality and mandate of the President. George W. Bush has made environmental issues a low priority, according to the report, leaving the current CEQ an easy target for those who think it has become merely a political arm of the White House. The CEQ’s main agenda now is to advance the President’s goals on a number of key initiatives, many of which are rejected by environmental groups.
Ex-Oil Lobbyist Resigns as Head of CEQ
In 2005, Philip Cooney, a senior official at the Council on Environmental Quality, resigned after The New York Times reported he had changed some government reports to downplay links between greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Cooney had previously worked as a lawyer for the American Petroleum Institute. Current CEQ Chairman James L. Connaughton was formerly a partner at law firm Sidley Austin LLP, where he lobbied to reduce government regulation on behalf of clients including the Aluminum Company of America and the Chemical Manufacturers Association of America.
CEQ Implicated in 9/11 Pollution Controversy
In August 2003, Newsday reported that in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, the White House instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to give the public misleading information, telling New Yorkers it was safe to breathe when reliable information on air quality was actually not available. A report released by the Office of the Inspector General of the EPA noted that “the White House Council on Environmental Quality influenced ... the information that EPA communicated to the public through its early press releases when it convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones.”
In addition, numerous key differences between the draft versions and final versions of EPA statements were uncovered. A recommendation that homes and businesses near ground zero be cleaned by professionals was replaced by a request that citizens follow orders from NYC officials. Another statement that showed concerns about “sensitive populations” was deleted altogether. Language used to describe excessive amounts of asbestos in the area was altered drastically to minimize the dangers it posed.
EPA Misled Public on 9/11 Pollution
(by Laurie Garrett, Newsday)
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Founded: 1969
Annual Budget: $3 million
Employees: 24
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Council on Environmental Quality
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Nancy Sutley’s selection as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality not only pleased environmentalists, but gay rights activists as well—thanks to Sutley’s “green” credentials and the fact that she is openly gay. Throughout her career, Sutley has been a hard-working, behind-the-scenes bureaucrat with a low public profile.
Born April 20, 1962, in New York, Sutley was raised in Queens. Her mother is an immigrant from Argentina. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science in 1980, she received her BA in government from Cornell University and her masters in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Sutley worked as an industry economist for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, before becoming policy director of the National Independent Energy Producers trade association.
During the Clinton administration, Sutley was a senior policy advisor to the regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 9 in San Francisco and a special assistant to EPA’s top official, Carol Browner, in Washington, DC.
From 1999-2003, Sutley served as California Governor Gray Davis’ energy advisor, managing state and federal regulatory, legislative, financial and press matters. During the state’s energy crisis, she raised questions about the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s oversight of electricity markets in California. She also served as the Deputy Secretary for Policy and Intergovernmental Relations within the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), where she advised on water and air pollution policy, lobbied federal agencies and Congress, and established budget and legislative priorities. Sutley also helped to draft a statewide policy on environmental justice to shield low-income communities from an over-concentration of high-polluting projects.
In 2005, she joined the administration of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment. Working behind the scenes, she has been the point person for Villaraigosa’s campaign to make Los Angeles the “greenest big city in America.” This includes requiring Los Angeles to produce 20% of its power from renewable sources, moving the Department of Water and Power to wind and solar energy, and replacing 16,000 diesel trucks at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Sutley also has supervised the Million Trees program, which ran into difficulties after urban tree advocates complained that it relied too much on tree giveaways—particularly the distribution of seedlings that have a high mortality rate. And she has served as the mayor’s appointment to the board of directors for The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
During the 2008 Democratic primary for president, Sutley was an outspoken supporter of Hillary Clinton, serving as a member of the Southern California lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender steering committee. She contributed $1,000 to Clinton’s campaign, and later gave $250 to Barack Obama.
After the election, Sutley joined the presidential transition team reviewing the EPA, thanks to her connection to Browner, a senior adviser to Obama on environmental and energy matters.
Following the announcement of Sutley as the next chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, some environmentalists predicted she would be a key player in shaping the Obama administration’s policies on climate change and the environment. Others who know her, though, said she would more likely be “a technician, not a policymaker.”
However she operates on the environmental front, Sutley’s appointment pleased many in the gay rights movement. “President-elect Obama’s nomination of Nancy Sutley is another step toward full equality for gay Americans,” said Chuck Wolfe, president of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute. “It sends a signal to young people that they can participate in their government at its highest levels, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender or ethnicity.”
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Connaughton, James
Previous Chair
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James L, Connaughton served as the chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality frome June 18, 2001, until the concusion of George W. Bush's presidency.. At Yale University, Connaughton graduated second in his class in 1983. He earned his JD at the Northwestern University School of Law, graduating in 1989. At Northwestern, he was an Austin Scholar and served as coordinating articles editor of the Northwestern University Law Review. Following law school, he clerked for US District Judge Marvin Aspen in the Northern District of Illinois.
Connaughton began his career working on behalf of asbestos victims who worked in the major construction trades.
From 1993 to 2001, Connaughton served as one of the lead US negotiators of the ISO 14000 series of international environmental consensus standards. He worked with officials from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), California EPA and the Environmental Law Institute to help form the Multi-State Work Group on Environmental Management Systems (MSWG).
Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Connaughton was a partner in the law firm of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, specializing in lobbying to reduce government regulations for clients such as the Chemical Manufacturers Association of America, General Electric and Alcoa.
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