Clinton Names Climate Envoy

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has picked Todd Stern, a senior White House negotiator at the Kyoto climate talks under President Bill Clinton, as the U.S.’s chief climate negotiator, and he vowed that “a new day is dawning in the U.S. approach to climate change and clean energy.” Stern, who coordinated climate policy for President Clinton from 1997 to 1999, said that the U.S. must play a leading role in global climate change negotiations, which will culminate this December in Copenhagen. “The time for denial, delay, and dispute is over,” said Stern, who recently worked at the liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress. Secretary of State Clinton promised “vigorous, dramatic diplomacy” on the climate front. Meanwhile, Lisa Heinzerling — a law professor who spearheaded a Massachusetts case that resulted in the federal courts ruling that states could regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act — has been chosen as a top adviser to the Environmental Protection Agency on climate change.