Obama commits to tough push on global warming

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is planning a major push using executive powers to tackle the pollutionblamed for global warming in an effort to make good on promises he made at the start of his second term. "Weknow we have to do more — and we will do more," Obama said Wednesday in Berlin. Obama's senior energy and climate adviser, Heather Zichal, said the plan would boost energy efficiency of appliances and buildings, plusexpand renewable energy. She also said the Environmental Protection Agency was preparing to use its authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants. "The EPA has been working very hard on rules that focusspecifically on greenhouse gases from the coal sector," Zichal said. Zichal, speaking at a forum hosted by The New Republic in Washington, said that noneof the proposals would require new funding or actionfrom Congress. It has shown no appetite for legislation that would put a price on carbon dioxide after a White House-backed bill to set up amarket-based system died in Obama's first term with Democrats in charge.