Spiking oil prices gave energy policy a leading role in the US presidential campaigns, though the debate was not especially enlightened. John McCain and Barack Obama both declared their support for reducing carbon emissions, but alarm over the price of petrol centred the discussion on ways of expanding the domestic oil supply. The Republican’s call to “drill baby drill” put Mr Obama on the defensive and forced him to modify his stance on offshore drilling – a side issue at best. Now that the global recession has caused the price of oil to collapse, the political urgency has diminished, and the opportunity presents itself for the next president to think more intelligently about the subject.

Mr Obama intends to include measures promoting alternative energy in his fiscal stimulus plan. The question of further support for the three big US-owned car companies will also arise soon after the inauguration, and here too Mr Obama has proposed using aid to spur efforts to improve fuel economy and adopt green technologies.