President Barack Obama’s administration got right to work after taking
office yesterday, ordering a halt to all pending regulations issued in
the final days of the Bush administration.
"This afternoon, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel signed
a memorandum sent to all agencies and departments to stop all pending
regulations until a legal and policy review can be conducted by the
Obama administration," the new Obama administration said in a release.
The "review" is commonly used to stop progress of rule changes
issued within 60 days by previous administrations. The Bush
administration, knowing that it had run out of time, dropped its efforts in December to rewrite regulations concerning power plant pollution.
However, the Bush administration appears to have been succesful in pushing through new rules clearing the way for mountaintop removal coal mining and changing the listing process for engandered species.
Reuters reported that one of the changes halted includes allowing the carrying of concealed weapons in some national parks.
Confirmations Underway
The U.S. Senate wasted no time in approving Obama’s cabinet selections
for energy and natural resources. Lawmakers issued a single, unanimous
vote yesterday to confirm Steven Chu as energy secretary, Tom Vilsack
as agriculture secretary and Ken Salazar as interior secretary.
Other confirmations in the vote include Arne Duncan as education
secretary, Janet Napolitano as secretary of homeland security and Peter
Orszag as head of the White House budget office.
In Related News…
For a good overview of possible upcoming legislation, read Red
Herring’s "What to Expect of Obama on Clean Tech" at the link below.
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