While President Obama has pushed forward with a number of climate-related initiatives—including instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to review California’s request to implement its own vehicle emission standards—other executive agencies have begun to form their own environmental teams. Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named Todd Stern her chief climate envoy. Stern, a former assistant to President Bill Clinton and fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), brings considerable expertise and a number of proposals for addressing climate change on an international stage.

During his time in the Clinton White House, Stern played a key role in international climate negotiations—leading the U.S. negotiation team in hammering out the Kyoto Protocol. While no one knows whether the appointment of Stern—who will head the US delegation in the international climate change negotiations targeted to culminate in Copenhagen this December—signals the return of America’s leadership in crafting commitments to targets and timetables for emission reduction commitments, his writings outlining his approach to international climate solutions may shed insight.

Last year in his capacity at CAP, Stern authored a white paper entitled “Creating the E-8.” In it, he expresses frustration with the process by which the United Nations reaches environmental agreements. The potentially huge number of parties, lack of high-level involvement from heads of state, and large and growing international bureaucracies often foil real progress, he contends. Instead of continuing with a similar negotiation path, he urges the creation of an E-8, which would mirror the G-8—a small group of developed and developing nations “devoting their full attention once a year to global ecological and resource challenges.”

Secretary Clinton indicated that Stern’s appointment would signal a return of U.S. leadership in international climate negotiations, “With the appointment today of a special envoy, we are sending an unequivocal message that the United States will be energetic, focused, strategic and serious about addressing global climate change and the corollary issue of clean energy.”

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