From the lead article in today's New York Times:
President Obama
will direct federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an
application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile
emission and fuel efficiency standards, two administration officials said Sunday.
The directive makes good on an Obama campaign pledge and signifies a
sharp reversal of Bush administration policy. Granting California and
the other states the right to regulate tailpipe emissions would be one
of the most emphatic actions Mr. Obama could take to quickly put his
stamp on environmental policy.
Mr. Obama’s presidential memorandum will order the Environmental Protection Agency
to reconsider the Bush administration’s past rejection of the
California application. While it stops short of flatly ordering the
Bush decision reversed, the agency’s regulators are now widely expected
to do so after completing a formal review process.
Refreshing to have a President who wants to protect the broad public interest rather than the interests of big business. Encouraging to have a President who frees government agencies to do the work for which they were created rather than hampering and blocking their pursuit of their missions.