The election of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will result in political appointments to the environmental agencies and the policies they pursue which will be much more to the liking of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) community and much less so to industry. The impact of this change will be amplified by Rep. Henry Waxman's (D-Cal.) ouster of Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) as chair of the U.S. House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee. Indeed, environmental policies will take on a distinctly California character with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) as Speaker of the House and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Cal.) chairing the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The new Congress is also almost certainly going to be more favorable to new environmental controls and have a more aggressive environmental agenda. However, the change in orientation and approach of the federal government after January 20, 2009, will not immediately result in a flood of new legislation or sweeping changes in regulations.