By John E. Mulligan
Journal Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON _ President Obama won bipartisan praise today from Rhode Island officials for opening the door to state-level rules on automobile pollution that go further than federal standards. Democrats took the opportunity to renew their criticism of the Bush administration's environmental policies.

Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick J. Lynch said in a news release, "The swift and decisive action taken today by President Obama is a breath of fresh air -- literally -- for all who have been harmed by the Bush administration's disdain for and indifference to regulating greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to pollution, threaten public health, and increase the impacts of global warming.''

Mr. Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency to review a Bush administration ruling that effectively barred California and allied states from stiffening the limits on auto emissions - including carbon dioxide - believed to contribute to global warming.

Rhode Island was among the states that joined California more than three years ago in seeking a waiver from regular procedures that would have permitted them to press for tougher limits on so-called ``greenhouse gases.''

Mr. Obama's decision - like the Bush administration action that may now be reversed -- will have no concrete effect on citizens in Rhode Island or the other states involved in seeking what has come to be known as the California waiver. Car manufacturers do not make cars - or their emissions control systems -- to specifications that vary from state to state. But Rhode Island may now be able to join California and the others in applying collective pressure on the auto industry to cut back on certain emissions.

``I'm very pleased by this advance,'' said W. Michael Sullivan, director of the state Department of Environmental Management. ``If we're going to affect the quality of our air'' the level of harmful emissions from cars has to be reduced because cars are the biggest source of certain pollutants, Sullivan said.

Governor Carcieri, a Republican, signed an executive order more than three years ago in which he proposed to have the state join in imposing the California strictures on car emissions. All the other New England states except New Hampshire are among the states that have signed onto the effort with California.

Democrat Lynch has joined in legal actions to advance the prerogative of states to impose restrictions tougher than the federal government's.

``It's clear that today's order to the EPA by President Obama signals that the agency will once again become the Environmental Protection Agency, rather than the IPA--the Industry Protection Agency,'' Lynch said in his statement.

"For years, the Bush Administration took care of its friends in the oil and gas business instead of pushing for stricter pollution standards that will lead to new cars and trucks that get better fuel economy," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in a news release. "Rhode Island - and America - is ready for tougher limits on greenhouse gas emissions. It's exciting to finally have a president who gets it, and will take strong measures to help all Americans breathe cleaner air, spend less at the pump, and use less foreign oil," said Whitehouse, a Democrat who sits on the Senate's principal environmental committee.