You wanted change?

President Barack Obama is changing the most controversial pillars of the Bush administration policy one by one. The latest issue to be revised by the Obama administration is allowing states to impose their own stricter rules on green house gas emissions.

Obama is expected to ask the Environmental Protection Agency today to reconsider the Bush administration decision to stop the state of California and about 16 other states from setting their own limits on auto emissions.

If the EPA revises the Bush-era decision and allows the states to impose their own rules on the matter, the states will most likely require car manufacturers to change the way they build the cars by increasing fuel efficiency.

Obama is expected to make the announcement at a White House ceremony, sources close to the presidential administration said. Although the president will just ask the EPA to reconsider the current policy on auto emissions, it is widely expected that the agency will approve it. A final decision by the EPA would likely take several months.

California and about 16 other states sued the EPA after Stephen Johnson, the agency's chief under the Bush administration, refused to approve California’s request to be allowed to regulate the green house gas emissions for itself. 

Since taking office, President Obama has received a letter from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in which the latter asked the president to "direct the U.S. EPA to act promptly and favorably on California's reconsideration request.”

Another move Obama will most likely make is to direct the Department of Transportation to change the due date of implementing the fuel efficiency standards from 2011 to March. Making the U.S. one of the nations committed to fight the global warming was one of Obama’s main promises in the campaign trail.

The move will certainly have a major impact. About 25% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. are emitted by passenger vehicles. California wants to reduce the auto emissions by 30 percent by 2016. As many as 16 other states will follow and impose their own rules in that field if Obama convinces the EPA to change the policy.

With 17 states which account for about 50 percent of the nation’s population and for more than 50 percent of the U.S. auto market, the move will force car producers to make more fuel-efficient vehicles. California, the most ambitious state when it comes to fighting green house gas and global warming, said it wants to require car producers to make cars using paints that reflect more heat, tires that roll smoother and improved air conditioning in order to increase efficiency. So there’s a lot of weight in the balance of the decision.