Energy Fight Heats Up for White House

The ambitious effort to redirect U.S. energy policy away from fossil fuels next faces a stiff fight over a plan to put a price on carbon-dioxide emissions.

The White House early on won $42 billion in the stimulus bill for a range of renewable-energy and efficiency projects. The Environmental Protection Agency declared carbon-dioxide emissions a threat to human health.
The administration also cut a deal with auto makers to increase the average fuel economy of automobiles sold in the U.S. to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, four years faster than current law requires.
The House narrowly passed a climate bill in June that puts a price on carbon-dioxide emissions, but also gives away pollution permits Mr. Obama wanted to sell -- a major concession. The legislation faces an uphill climb in the Senate.
A program to entice consumers to trade in gas-guzzling "clunkers" for more-efficient new vehicles has been a hit with consumers and has cleared thousands of old sport-utility vehicles from the highways -- though there were some administrative snafus and a failure to anticipate heavy demand.—Stephen Power