Obama signs orders on emissions, warming

Reversing another Bush administration policy, President Obama announced this morning that he will order environmental regulators to immediately look at the request by Massachusetts and at least a dozen other states decide their own standards on auto emissions, an avenue for reducing carbon dioxide and other gases that help cause global warming.

"We must have the courage and commitment to change," Obama declared.

For decades, he said, the country has chosen delay over decisive action" and "rigid ideology has overshadowed sound science."

The country must now address dependence on foreign oil -- often controlled by unfriendly dictators -- and the real challenge of global warming, he said.

In 2007, the Bush administration denied California's request to enact tougher tailpipe emissions standards, which would force automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and light trucks by 2016.

Massachusetts and at least 12 other states -- Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- have already adopted California's standards.

The administration must "work with, not against" states, he said. "The days of Washington dragging its heels is over."

Obama also ordered his Transportation Department to enact short-term rules on how automakers can improve fuel efficiency of their new models by the 2011 model year. The auto companies are supposed to make longer-term moves toward hybrid and other fuel-efficient cars under the terms of the loans that Chrysler and General Motors are receiving from the federal government.

The president said he is not trying to add a burden to the automakers, but wants to help them produce vehicles for the future.

And Obama repeated his pledge that the United States will take the lead in global cooperation and action on climate change.

Automakers have fought the stricter California standards, saying the rules should be enacted nationwide. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers issued a statement today reiterating that stand.

"The Alliance supports a nationwide program that bridges state and federal concerns and moves all stakeholders forward, and we are ready to work with the Administration on developing a national approach," Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the alliance, said in a statement.

The alliance also called on the Obama administration to issue specific fuel-efficiency requirements for 2011 models, so manufacturers know what they have to do.

UPDATE: Asked how Obama can ensure that the new rules won't cause more auto job cuts, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the changes should come as no surprise since Congress passed them more than a year ago.

"Changing those fuel mileage standards is certainly doable," he said.

The president wants to work with Detroit to make sure that popular fuel-efficient cars are made in America, Gibbs said.

He also argued that raising the average standard from 27.5 to 25 miles per gallon would save 2 million barrels of oil a day -- equivalent to what the US imports from the Persian Gulf.