Environment

With a short memo on Inauguration Day, President Obama blocked plans to loosen some air quality standards and to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. But he did not stop several other controversial, late-term environmental regulations issued by the Bush administration -- at least not yet.

An environmental group has asked the California Supreme Court to review a controversial power transmission project that was approved last month by the state Public Utilities Commission.

The glass jar and wire contraption promising to increase your car's gas mileage was a hit. So were the solar panels, the hemp bags and the rooftop gardens. And for a couple discreetly taking whiffs in one booth, it was all about the organic aphrodisiac candles. Nearly 10,000 people went green Saturday during the first Go Green Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. In true Angeleno fashion, most arrived in a procession of cars and then circled the parking garage, vying for a space.

Kate Cannon gazed across the high red desert to the snowy La Sal Mountains rising in sharp relief at the horizon. That view of uninterrupted nature is what draws nearly a million yearly visitors to this remote part of southeast Utah. "Look at the mountains," said Cannon, superintendent of Arches and neighboring Canyonlands national parks. "You can see them. Part of the majesty of this country is the grand sweeping views. The visitors do love it."

Interior Department officials ignored key scientific findings when they limited water flows in the Grand Canyon to optimize generation of electric power there, risking damage to the ecology of the spectacular landmark, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post. A Jan. 15 memo written by Grand Canyon National Park Supt. Steve Martin suggests that the department produced a flawed environmental assessment to defend its actions against environmentalists.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday that he was reconsidering a series of controversial energy and environmental decisions handed down in the waning days of the Bush administration, including a move to open federal land near national parks to oil and natural gas drilling.

The Obama administration Wednesday canceled 77 leases its predecessor sold to oil and gas companies that wanted to explore beneath the red rock country of Utah, the first of several expected steps to reverse the Bush administration's Western legacy. "We need to responsibly develop oil and gas supply to protect us from our dependence on foreign oil," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, "but we need to do so in a thoughtful and respectful way."

President Obama's plans to lead America out of recession rest in part on a task bigger than a moon shot and the Manhattan Project put together. His goal, which past presidents have spent more than $100 billion chasing with limited success, is to replace imported oil and other fossil fuels with a "clean-energy economy" powered by the wind, the sun and biofuels. The stakes are high. If Obama succeeds, he could spark a domestic jobs boom and lead an international fight against climate change.

It's the green economy, stupid. It was hard not to think of this twist on his long-ago campaign slogan as former President Clinton toured the Los Angeles area on Monday, making the case that the quickest way out of the country's latest economic morass lies in the wonky topic of energy efficiency.

Chatting with curious shoppers at her Santa Ana eco-boutique, Delilah Snell finds herself spending hours answering questions about the uncommon goods she carries: $47-a-gallon soy-based wall paints, biodegradable cutlery and native California seeds, among other items. Most first-time visitors to the Road Less Traveled don't buy a thing. "But they come back," said Snell, 32, who opened her North Main Street shop three years ago with $12,000 saved from a waitress job.