Political prognostication? It’s kid stuff.

The Environmental Protection Agency is considering rules to cut carbon emissions from new power plants, and the LCV is hoping it also addresses existing plants. The LCV isn’t using the m-word — “mandate” — but is optimistic about progress in a new Obama term, Sittenfeld says, citing progress in the past four years and validation from voters.

But there’s likely to be a shift in the administration on such issues, since neither Energy Secretary Steven Chu nor EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is expected to stay much longer.

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A look at key factors in the 2012 presidential election.

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So maybe the enviros should consider stocking up on more champers, though it’s little too soon to put it on ice.

Holder Watch continues

Justice Department folks are saying that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is thinking that he would like to stay on for another year in his job, though naturally that would be up to the president. He and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano are in London talking cybercrime, terrorism and such with the Euros.

Is Liz Warren available?

Buzz at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is that Director Richard Cordray is thinking about leaving the agency when his recess appointment expires at the end of next year, rather than go through another contentious confirmation fight, our colleague Danielle Douglas reports.

A bureau spokesman said Cordray, considered a potential Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Ohio, has no plans to leave, and the White House isn’t commenting. But his chances of confirmation are pretty much nil — and he can’t be re-recessed.

The governorship will be up for grabs in 2014, leading to speculation that Cordray will make a move. He lost earlier bids for the Senate and House.

Loop Fans may recall that Senate Republicans blocked his nomination in 2011, insisting that the administration first agree to have a five-member commission oversee the new consumer watchdog. Democrats couldn’t muster the 60 votes required to break the hold.

The standoff left the bureau leaderless, so President Obama gave Cordray a recess appointment, an end run that outraged Senate Republicans.

Even so, Cordray and his team forged ahead with rules to govern the financial services industry and enforcement actions to keep companies in line.

Just as the bureau is settling into the role of regulator, it is facing a potential leadership vacuum. Not only is Cordray’s term up in the coming year, but his deputy director, Raj Date, is stepping down on Jan. 31.

Date, who helped build the agency from the ground up, would have been acting director in the event Cordray left at the end of the year. But now it’s uncertain who would step into the role if Cordray departs.

With Emily Heil

The blog: washingtonpost.com/intheloop. Twitter: @InTheLoopWP.