President Barack Obama said revamping US energy policy would be a top priority next year and may have to be done "in chunks" rather than through one piece of legislation, according to Rolling Stone magazine. In an interview published on Tuesday, Obama lamented that more progress to fight climate change had not been made since he took office, and blamed the economy for that failure.
"One of my top priorities next year is to have an energy policy that begins to address all facets of our over-reliance on fossil fuels," Obama told Rolling Stone. "We may end up having to do it in chunks, as opposed to some sort of comprehensive omnibus legislation. But we're going to stay on this because it is good for our economy, it's good for our national security, and, ultimately, it's good for our environment." Climate change was one of Obama's top priorities when he took office in 2009, but it took a backseat to healthcare reform, financial regulation reform, and economic stimulus legislation.