Felicia Marcus likens the challenges facing leaders of Obama's environment program to the difficulty of "hearding dogs, cats, wolves and sheep" in the Washington Post before going on to say that CEQ appointee Nancy Sutley is "one of those people [to whom] you give the toughest issues;" Felicia also discussed Obama appointments on Air America... In a front page Washington Post article, Dan Lashof praised Obama's selections for high level energy and environment positions and expressed his hope that the appointees would bring dramatic policy changes with them when they take their positions...

On CNN.com (in the Chicago Tribune, Seattle P-I, Miami Herald, and many others) Andrew Wetzler rebuked the Department of the Interior for disregarding almost a quarter of a million letters objecting to crippling Endangered Species Act changes that the Bush Administration pushed through yesterday... In an ABC.com piece Rob Perks called a tasteless PR campaign advanced by a coal front group "worse than Joe Camel selling cigarettes," Perks went on to postulate that "you might as well believe in unicorns if you believe in clean coal"...[update, shortly after the ABC piece ran, the campaign was pulled]

Jake Schmidt called Mexico's commitment to pursue a voluntary carbon cap a significant step toward spurring global collective action in the Associated Press... In the Contra Costa Times Barry Nelson voices NRDC's support for a move by Sen. Dianne Feinstein to have two water permits (aimed at protecting both salmon and smelt in the San Joaquin Delta) combined before they are put into action... And in the Californian Diane Bailey emphasizes for years California residents have been subsidizing the trucking industry with their health and the time has come for that to stop.