Mid-term defeat leaves Obama's climate agenda hanging by a thread

Barack Obama's plans to focus on energy and climate change legislation next year look set to face fierce opposition after the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives to the Republicans in yesterday's mid-term elections.

The Republicans won at least 57 seats in the House, giving them a clear majority this morning of 239 seats to 183, with a handful of results still to be declared.

Democrats avoided the complete electoral wipeout that had been feared, holding on to at least 51 seats in the Senate, including the high-profile seat of Nevadan senator Harry Reid who defeated his Tea Party challenger Sharron Angle.

However, a mixture of anti-Democrat sentiment thanks to the financial crisis, along with aggressive Tea Party activism, led to a loss of Democrat seats across the board.

Emboldened by the success of Tea Party candidates, many of which deny the existence of manmade climate change, Republicans are expected to try to block much of the president's agenda.

Speaking following the House victory, Republican congressman John Boehner, who will become the new speaker of the House, signalled that the Republicans intended to force the president to change many of his flagship policies.

"The people have sent an unmistakable message to the president – and that is 'change course,'" he said. "[To] the extent he is willing to do that, we will work with him... Our new majority will be prepared to do things differently. It starts with cutting spending instead of increasing it, reducing the size of government instead of increasing it, and reforming the way Congress works."

Speaking prior to the election, he told talk show host Sean Hannity that he was in no mood to work with the president. "This is not a time for compromise, and I can tell you that we will not compromise on our principles," he said.

The result will make it extremely difficult for Democrats to push key legislative measures on the environment to the president's desk.

Obama said that he wants to pass energy and climate legislation "in chunks" next year, but with an already divided Congress set to become even more partisan, he can expect fierce opposition to many of the proposals currently being considered.

Climate change could also slip further down the agenda, with the budget deficit and healthcare reforms expected to become the main focus for Republicans in Congress. House Republicans have promised a return to 2008 spending levels, which would mean shaving $100bn (£62bn) from the federal budget, and have signalled that they could try to repeal elements of Obama's healthcare reforms.

The Obama administration is expected to try to continue to push green reforms through the Environmental Protection Agency and progress is likely to continue at a state level, particularly after Californians yesterday voted against Proposition 23, saving the state's flagship climate change bill.

However, even existing environmental legislation could come under fire, given that the Republican victory gives it control over House committees.

The Guardian reported earlier this week that Democrats and environmental groups are bracing themselves for a flurry of committee-led investigations into climate science, the administration's handling of the BP oil spill, and the legality of existing environmental legislation.