In a sharp break from the Bush administration, President Obama this week granted states permission to regulate tailpipe emissions and said he would vigorously enforce a law requiring automakers to improve fuel efficiency. The executive orders, which Obama said were necessary for “our security, our economy, and our planet,” clear the way for California and other states that want to set greenhouse-gas emission standards tighter than federal limits.
Republican lawmakers complained that the new rules would impose heavy burdens on an industry that has been staggered by plunging sales. “The federal government should not be piling on an industry already hurting,” said Sen. George Voinovich, an Ohio Republican. Carmakers also warned that the stiffer regulations could add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new car.
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Actually, “Obama has set the wrong priority,” said The Detroit News. What America needs most right now is jobs; hobbling the collapsing auto industry will cost jobs, not create them. And by allowing states to make their own emissions rules, Obama will spawn “a crazy quilt of regulations for making vehicles.” That leaves automakers “at the whim of the most environmentally goofy states, such as California and Vermont.”
Shed no tears for Detroit, said Andrew Leonard in Salon.com. For years, America’s carmakers, “in cahoots with” the Bush administration, fought the forces of environmental responsibility and technological innovation “every single last, grudging step of the way.” Maybe General Motors would still be the world’s biggest automaker “if it had spent more time investing in the future.”
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The battle over religious exemptions for companiesfeature Conservative Supreme Court justices expressed support for Hobby Lobby's request to be exempted from the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate.
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The plane that ‘vanished into thin air’
feature Officials from 25 countries focused their search on two vast northern and southern corridors that the Boeing 777 may have traveled.
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Debt-ridden Detroit files for bankruptcy
feature Detroit entered uncharted waters after it became the largest American city to file for bankruptcy.
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Justices weigh gene patents
feature Several U.S. Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism over whether companies can patent genes.
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Romney under pressure over tax returns
feature Mitt Romney’s campaign was left on the defensive this week, after the Obama campaign launched a series of attacks on his business record.
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An economy stuck in the doldrums
feature The outlook for the American economy darkened, as the latest jobs report showed it settling into a prolonged stagnation.
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Is the jobs outlook improving?
feature Private-sector employment has climbed by an average of 250,000 jobs a month for three months running, but the economy is still struggling and unemployment remains high.
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A divided high court gets down to business
feature The Supreme Court faces a slew of controversial cases that are likely to expose deep divisions between the court’s liberal and conservative wings.