SPECIFIC POLICY POSITIONS In 2008, Obama campaigned on a pledge
to enact a sweeping cap-and-trade law that would slash fossil-
fuel pollution, mandate increased production of renewable
electricity, and spend $150 billion on clean-energy research
over a decade. The bill failed in the Senate, and “cap-and-
trade” has become a politically toxic phrase, but the president
has continued to pursue elements of climate-change and carbon-
reduction policy. He used his executive authority to issue
Environmental Protection Agency regulations to cut fossil-fuel
emissions from power plants and to ramp up fuel-economy
standards for vehicles. In an April interview with Rolling
Stone, Obama said, “I will be very clear in voicing my belief
that we’re going to have to take further steps to deal with
climate change in a serious way.” OIL AND GAS DRILLING The
president supports some expansion of oil and gas drilling: EPA
and the Interior Department have approved permits for drilling
in U.S. waters in the Arctic Ocean off the Alaskan