No matter what one thinks about President-elect Obama's energy and climate policies, they certainly don't seem to be promises safely ignored, like, perhaps, whatever he may have said about flag-burning, Puerto Rican statehood or 100 other things. (I'm sure he said something, but does anybody remember or care?)

While Obama could be preoccupied by Cabinet selections, a cratering stock market, the sight of the Big Three automakers begging on Capitol Hill (For those of us of a certain age, could that really be GM, the former "world's largest corporation" acting like it was Amtrak? But I digress.), he could easily ignore climate issues and energy, especially after oil has dropped by more than half from its summer highs.

But there he was this week, sending a taped message to California Gov. Arnold Schwaggener's international "climate summit" to emphasize his departure from Bush Administration policy on international protocols. "Once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations and help lead the world toward a new era of global cooperation on climate change," he said.

Obama also repeated his support for substantial government promotion of clean technologies, saying businesses and states that adopt similar goals would have "an ally in the White House," as well as his repeated endorsement of a cap-and-trade system for emissions with aggresssive targets through mid-century. 

So "change" has come, at least for the first couple weeks after the election, in terms of style and substance on climate and energy policy. And in the age of YouTube - and even blogs - some politicians' promises are ignored with greater risk. Or, at least they have better a better chance of discussion, if not adoption, than proposals to add a 51st state.