President Obama moves forward to a cleaner environment

President Barack Obama has opened the way for California and other states to set stricter vehicle emissions rules on their own to curb global warming, a step opposed by automakers.

Obama also announced that his administration will finish work on new federal rules requiring cars and light trucks to be more fuel-efficient by 2011. He linked the actions to his plan to revitalize the economy.

“Our goal is not to further burden an already struggling industry, it is to help America’s automakers prepare for the future,” Obama said during his first week. “We must ensure that the fuel efficient cars of tomorrow are built right here.”

President Obama signaled that our country can no longer afford to wait to combat the climate crisis and our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. He is setting our country on a path led by science and innovation, in a dramatic departure from the past eight years.

Granting the request of California and other states to move forward with reducing greenhouse gases emissions from vehicles will steer American automakers to retool their fleets. Only through innovation will automakers be able to create the greener cars of the future and regain their global competitiveness.

President Obama also has sent a clear message on CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards. Restarting the implementation of new fuel efficiency standards will allow the Obama administration to bring fresh thinking to the process and ensure the standards achieve the goals set by Congress in the landmark 2007 energy bill.

The New Direction Congress will work with President Obama to embrace a clean, renewable and energy independent future for America. We look forward to building on the historic Energy Independence and Security Act with an economic recovery package that works to double renewable energy generation, invests in green infrastructure and creates the clean energy jobs that will provide a stronger economy for the future.

Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 111th Congress. She can be reached at Office of the Speaker, H-232, US Capitol, Washington, DC 20515, (202) 225-0100. Visit her Web site at www.speaker.gov.

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