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Weaponizing the EPA: Presidential Control and Wicked Problems

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Weaponizing the EPA: Presidential Control and Wicked Problems WEAPONIZING THE EPA: PRESIDENTIAL CONTROL AND WICKED PROBLEMS by Craig A. Jones A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy and Administration Boise State University May 2020 © 2020 Craig A. Jones ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COLLEGE DEFENSE COMMITTEE AND FINAL READING APPROVALS of the dissertation submitted by Craig A. Jones Dissertation Title: Weaponizing the EPA: Presidential Control and Wicked Problems Date of Final Oral Examination: 12 March 2020 The following individuals read and discussed the dissertation submitted by student Craig A. Jones, and they evaluated their presentation and response to questions during the final oral examination. They found that the student passed the final oral examination. Jen Schneider, Ph.D. Chair, Supervisory Committee Les Alm, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee Luke Fowler, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee The final reading approval of the dissertation was granted by Jen Schneider, Ph.D., Chair of the Supervisory Committee. The dissertation was approved by the Graduate College. DEDICATION TO MEDENNE. She is my wife, my friend, the love of my life and a constant source of inspiration and motivation, without whom this dissertation would not have happened. To Kendall and Bethany, you motivate me and inspire me to be better every single day. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My deepest gratitude to my committee chair, Dr. Jen Schneider. You made me a better student and a better scholar. I won’t ever look at policy, or the world, the same way again. To Dr. Les Alm, you were there from the beginning, and I am blessed to have you here at the end. I will forever have “so what” ringing in my ears. To Dr. Luke Fowler, your encouragement has meant the world to me. I am so grateful for your insights, your interest, and your guidance. To my entire committee, I was blessed to walk this path with three of my favorite people in the world. Finally, to all of my Boise State University faculty, you are making a difference, and I cherish the time I spent with each of you. v ABSTRACT In its broadest sense, presidential control encompasses all the actions, in both word and deed, whereby presidents “go it alone” to adopt policies in the absence of congressional will to do so, and sometimes directly contrary to it. This dissertation studies how President Obama used rhetorical and administrative tools of presidential control to address the “wicked problem” of climate change. The “administrative presidency” and the “rhetorical presidency” are familiar political science terms, but in the case of climate change policy, they appear to be moving policymaking in a new and perhaps profound direction, which this study refers to as “post-deliberative policymaking.” Applying these two areas of scholarship together to the wicked problem of climate change creates a helpful window through which to study how President Obama utilized administrative and rhetorical strategies and tools during his presidency. In particular, the study examines how he rhetorically constructed and rationalized his use of the Environmental Protection Agency to implement federal climate change regulations via the federal Clean Power Plan. Among the insights revealed by this analysis are how President Obama, in an age of acute political partisanship and polarization, positioned the role of the bureaucracy, how he invoked executive power, and what his actions reveal and may portend about executive views of democratic institutions and norms. This dissertation analyzes President Obama’s rhetoric through a study of his speeches from 2009 through 2015 that explicitly or implicitly reference climate change, greenhouse vi gases, and the Clean Power Plan, but also related topics, such as energy policy and climate agreements. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER ONE: PRESIDENTIAL POWER AND WICKED PROBLEMS ....................1 Problem Definition...................................................................................................7 Research Question .................................................................................................14 Plan of the Dissertation ..........................................................................................15 CHAPTER TWO: A BRIEF HISTORY OF U.S. NATIONAL CLIMATE POLICY .....17 The Foundational Period ........................................................................................23 Preparing the Foundation ...........................................................................24 Laying the Foundation ...............................................................................26 The Agenda-Setting Period ....................................................................................32 The Pre-Decisional Policy Formulation Period .....................................................40 Policy Formulation’s Early Years ..............................................................41 The Bush Years and Climate Policy Retrenchment ...................................44 The 2000s: A Legislative Dead End for Climate Policy............................47 viii The Rise and Fall of the Waxman-Markey Bill .........................................49 Obama’s Administrative Shift ...................................................................52 Trump’s Administrative Rebuttal ..............................................................54 Conclusion .............................................................................................................59 CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................62 Post-Deliberative Policymaking ............................................................................63 Wicked Problems, Super Wicked Problems, and Presidential Control .................65 Mapping Presidential Control ................................................................................69 Zeroing in on the Administrative and Rhetorical Presidencies .............................76 Describing the Administrative Presidency.............................................................79 Describing the Rhetorical Presidency ....................................................................84 Conclusion .............................................................................................................87 CHAPTER FOUR: ORIENTING PRESIDENT OBAMA IN ADMINISTRATIVE AND RHETORICAL LITERATURE.........................................................................................89 Obama’s Rhetorical Approach ...............................................................................90 Obama’s Administrative Approach .......................................................................95 CHAPTER FIVE: OVERVIEW OF METHODOLOGY AND SUITABILITY OF QUALITATIVE APPROACH ........................................................................................102 Data Collection and Sample Size .........................................................................110 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................115 Limitations to the Study Approach ......................................................................123 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................126 CHAPTER 6: ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS .................................................................128 The Rhetorical Use of Polysemy .........................................................................132 ix United We Stand ..................................................................................................135 A Clean Energy Utopia ........................................................................................141 Toward Social Solidarity .....................................................................................147 The Rhetorical Use of Locus of the Irreparable ...................................................155 We Can’t Wait .....................................................................................................160 A Climate Apocalypse .........................................................................................164 Leading the Way ..................................................................................................168 Toward Post-Deliberative Policymaking .............................................................175 CHAPTER 7: IMPLICATIONS ......................................................................................178 Aggrandizing the Presidency ...............................................................................179
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