"We expect Mr. Bush will blithely pass on to the next president a nation moving pell-mell toward drought, rising seas and unpredictably severe weather patterns. We urge the new president, whoever that may be, to put America in the lead on emission reduction to help head off that scenario. The most productive thing this president is likely to do is to get out of the way."

Unfortunately, the president shows no signs of complying with that wish. The latest Bush blockage came on Wednesday, when, just hours after signing the new energy bill into law, Bush's EPA administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, announced that he would deny California's application to enforce its own, more stringent auto emissions standards for carbon dioxide.

A landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court last spring paved the way for California to enforce its own standards when the court made it clear that CO2 is defined as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. California has long had the right to promulgate its own air quality regulations under the Clean Air Act, and all it needs to move forward with those standards is a formal waiver from the EPA, a waiver that has now been denied.

At a press conference call conducted at 6:30 Wednesday evening, Johnson said he was blocking California because the new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) auto mileage standard just passed in the energy bill would be a better solution. He said: "The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution - not a confusing patchwork of state rules."

First of all, the 35 mpg CAFE standard passed in the energy bill is pathetically inadequate in the face of the huge threat of climate change, and by comparison to what other governments in Europe and Asia are already requiring of automakers selling in their markets. California's proposed CO2 emissions rules for cars will translate into a 43 mpg standard. And it will be implemented much sooner - by 2016, rather than 2020 for the new CAFE standard.

Secondly, California's carbon emissions standard for cars would be a uniform standard that other states could adopt voluntarily, not a "confusing patchwork." It would be the same standard for all the states. With about 18 states committed to adopting California's rules, half the US auto market would be under the stricter standard.

On the other hand, "a confusing patchwork" is an accurate description of the current set of state Renewable Electricity Standards. Dr. Marilyn Brown, professor of energy policy at Georgia Tech, has said, "If our interstate highway system was structured like our renewable energy market, drivers would be forced to change their engines, maybe their tires, and probably their fuels, every time they cross state boundaries."

That's why it was so important to pass the national RES that was included in the original, strong energy bill passed by the House on December 13. Republicans in the Senate blocked the Renewable Electricity Standard that required utilities to generate 15 percent of power from renewable sources such as wind and solar, along with the tax package, which would have funded a variety of tax incentives for renewable energy by rolling back big tax breaks recently awarded to the oil industry.

The Senate actually passed the strong version of the energy bill by 59 votes. But they did not have the 60 votes needed to overcome the Republican filibuster and the energy bill went from strong coffee to weak tea.

That crucial one vote could have come from the one Republican who has a reputation for combating climate change, but Senator McCain was absent and did not vote. It looks like John McCain got out of the way in order to avoid leading. The country and the world are all waiting for things to improve in 2009, but it would be a mistake to hold out much hope for leadership from presidential candidate McCain.

If McCain had helped the Senate pass that strong brew of a bill, it would have sent a powerful message to the oil and utility industries that have this country by the balls - like dumping a boiling takeout cup of java in their laps.

With California ready to defend its 43 mpg standard in court, who needs that weak tea of a 35 mpg CAFE standard? Aside from new energy efficiency standards for appliances and light bulbs, there isn't a lot left in the energy bill that passed that is worth much anyway. The ethanol mandate is a harmful boondoggle benefiting Monsanto and Archer Daniels Midland - another axis of the corporate oligarchy that really runs this country.