Lash is now president of The World Resources Institute, an enviro think tank here in DC. But to hear the Washington Rumor Mill tell it, Lash was ready to abandon WRI should the Obama-Biden Administration come calling. I saw credible news outlets tag him as a potential candidate for the EPA Administrator post and the position of climate czar. Neither nomination arrived, and Lash tells me he was "not that close" to joining the new administration.
So, back to why you might want to know who Jonathan Lash is. Well, more of why you want to know what he says. This week I covered his discussion of the environmental trends to watch in 2009, something of a "green media event" at the Newseum. This is the sixth time Lash has publicly and formally looked ahead to the coming year, but only the first time he has said he's encouraged by what he foresees.
Lash shared four topics that will make headlines in '09, including the evolving US-China relationship on and The Lacey Act's potential to derail illegal deforestation and logging around the world. Not surprisingly, the two topics involving policy really grabbed my attention.
First, Lash says the upcoming Obama economic stimulus plan presents a very real opportunity for early movement on energy legislation. I heard Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, say as much during a hearing last week. In fact, I'm turning a story today about what Energy Committee members tell me they want to see in the package that could approach $1-trillion over two years.
Second, Lash isn't certain Barbara Boxer's announced cap-and-trade plan will be the only climate change legislation we see in 2009. The other source, according to Lash? New House Energy Committee Chairman Henry Waxman. And Lash says any cap-and-trade bill emerging from that committee could be better structured to survive the House floor intact. That is, it would be a "bill from the center," as Lash puts it.
No matter what emerges on cap-and-trade, Lash accurately points out the bill must appeal to the Gang of 17 in the Senate, all of them moderate democrats and all of them representing states with significant coal-fired electricity generation.
No, Jonathan Lash isn't joining the Obama Administration. But he has a great view of what the team has planned, through his green-tinted sunglasses.
And despite all these Green references, the color of the morning was Orange. The Newseum catering team squeezed, poured, and served the best orange juice I can remember. And I'm not really a Juice Guy. Impressive.
Oh, and if you'd like to read a little more about Jonathan Lash (who couldn't have been more accommodating, or less presumptuous) take a look at the WRI website: <http://www.wri.org/profile
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