President-elect Barack Obama is reviewing President George W. Bush's executive orders on oil drilling and stem cell research and could reverse them, his transition chief said Sunday. Many of the orders are at odds with Democrat Obama's approach to the environment and health care. “I think across the board, on stem cell research, on a number of areas, you see the Bush administration, even today, moving aggressively to do things that I think are probably not in the interest of the country,” John Podesta told Fox. “We're looking at -- again, in virtually every agency to see where we can move forward, whether that's on energy transformation, on improving health care, on stem cell research,” he said. Podesta, who also served as White House chief of staff under president Bill Clinton, said he would not “preview decisions that he (Obama) has yet to make.” However he pointed out that “as a candidate, Senator Obama said that he wanted all the Bush executive orders reviewed, and decide which ones should be kept, and which ones should be repealed, and which ones should be amended.” Among the measures that Podesta raised were the Bush administration's move to authorize oil and gas drilling in the western state of Utah, and embryonic stem cell research which Bush has limited because he views it as destruction of human life. “They want to have oil and gas drilling in some of the most sensitive, fragile lands in Utah that they're going to try to do right as they -- walking out the door. I think that's a mistake,” he said. Podesta signaled that Obama would look to take swift action once he takes power on January 20.
