Energy and emissions top Obama's green tasklist.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

Barack Obama is raising expectations of swift action on the environment - possibly within his first few days in the White House.

At one of two green balls for this year's inauguration, environmentalists were already describing Obama as America's first green president.

Obama, since his election, has repeatedly indicated he wants to push ahead on his campaign promise to create jobs by investing in renewable energy .

He used his last appearance before the start of celebrations for his inauguration on Tuesday to talk up his clean energy plans at an Ohio factory that makes components for wind turbines.

"A renewable energy economy isn't some pie-in-the-sky, far-off future," Obama said during the factory visit. "It's happening all …