President Barack Obama [2] Jan. 26 directed the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the Bush administration decision that prevented California [3] and 17 other states from setting their own, stricter limits on auto emissions. Obama also directed his administration to move forward on tougher fuel-efficiency guidelines for the auto industry in time to cover 2011 model-year cars.
"For the sake of our security, our economy and our planet, we must have the courage and commitment to change," Obama said in a White House press conference announcing the moves. "It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs." (LAT [4], Jan. 26)
Even if he feels compelled to put it in slightly xenophobic terms (after all, the problem isn't foreign oil but oil)—could this be the USA's first blow against petro-oligarchical rule [5]?
See our last post on the global climate crisis [6].
