Thus The New York Times today. “Leaning on the Clean Air Act, president Obama has reshaped environmental policy more than any previous occupant of the White House,” explains the newspaper. Chances are that not a single major environmental law will have passed during Barack Obama’s two terms in Washington. Bereft of support from the Congress and Senate, he has turned toward the vast reach of one single law of considerable vintage. The Supreme Court could still overturn much of Obama’s legacy, though. Indeed, the Clean Air Act regulations are now under attack by both Republicans and the coal industry. They call the new rules “the war on coal.” Many Obama’s opponents call them “job-killing” rules, as well. Whatever comes to pass with his environmental legacy, he will be remembered as a lone fighter against climate change. And America still counts as the leading country in the world. If it is leading in anything at all, it must be the evidence that democracy is not up to the challenge of climate change. Assuming, of course, that American democracy is democracy at all.