The US domestic environmental policy has been profoundly modified in 2009, which has impacted the international perceptions of American behavior. Some of these evolutions result from the international changes that took place at the international level ; this is the case for climate change as well as carbon legislation or renewable energies and the car industry. Others however are related to the leadership change and the opening to civil society and social forces that characterizes the Obama administration on this count. Nevertheless, the Obama administration has not cut a clear break with the past so far, contrary to the expectations of many environmental groups.