It’s Obama! Now what for climate change and clean energy? by Alden Meyer

After months of speeches and debates, and billions of dollars of campaign ads, the elections are over and President Obama has won a second term in office. Now comes the hard part: how to move forward in a polarized political environment where the two major parties don”t agree on the overall role of government, on most policies, and all too often, not even on the facts.

One big unknown is how Republican leaders will respond to the president’s re-election victory.  In October of 2010, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell  said ”the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”  With that goal no longer an option, will Senator McConnell and his fellow Republican Senators be more open to compromise with the president?  Or will they be looking over their right shoulders at possible Tea Party primary challengers like those who took out Dick Lugar this year and Mike Castle in 2010 (Richard Mourdock and Christine O’Donnell. respectively, both of whom lost in the general election)?  Similarly, with a continuing solid margin of control in the House and a structural advantage because of redistricting in the 2014 elections and beyond, will Speaker Boehner and other House Republican leaders be inclined (and able) to reach deals with a Democratic president and Senate, or are we fated to ever more polarization and gridlock? With the looming fiscal cliff negotiations over taxes, spending, and the debt ceiling, we’ll have the answers to these questions fairly soon.

The president’s science agenda