President Barack Obama rarely mentioned climate change, gay marriage or immigration reform last fall when he practically moved into Ohio during the final days of the campaign.

But Obama focused squarely on those issues last week during his inaugural address. And though he suggested he would aggressively push this agenda during the next four years, he will face intense resistance from House Republicans and some Senate Democrats.

Some issues — such as gay marriage — are currently pending in the courts. Others — including climate change — may be addressed largely through federal regulation. But much of the Obama agency would require action from a Congress that has been resistant to do anything Obama wants.

So the question becomes: Was Obama reciting a wish list on Inauguration Day, or does he truly intend to go to the mat?

Here’s a brief look at what’s likely to happen in the near future.

Climate Change

Obama delighted environmental groups by making a strong call to address climate change during his speech.

But if he wants to see movement over the next four years, it would probably be through executive orders – not through Congress. Environmentalists say he would use the already enacted Clean Air Act and administrative actions by the Environmental Protection Agency to implement changes.

That means he’ll likely to move forward on plans to limit the carbon emissions that power plants are allowed to produce. It’s also possible he’ll adopt stricter standards on methane emissions. He can do both through rule-making under the Clean Air Act.

Julian Boggs, a state policy advocate for the group Environment Ohio, said while Obama didn’t talk much about climate change during his first term, he took some sweeping actions, including making cars more fuel efficient.

“But we hadn’t had … real leadership on global warming signaled through rhetoric during his first term,” Boggs said. “Maybe we just got the signal that that’s going to change.”

Melissa McHenry of the Ohio-based American Electric Power said that change may come with a price, with power companies and electric consumers predicted to see higher costs if new regulations became a reality. She said AEP is pushing for the “maximum flexibility” in order to minimize the impact on the economy.

She also said U.S. emissions are expected to be only about 10 percent of worldwide emissions by 2030, and emissions in developing countries are growing rapidly. She said what the United States does will have little impact if the rest of the world doesn’t also act.

Gay Marriage

Obama became the first president to speak out for gay rights — or even use the word “gay” — during an inaugural speech, calling for gay marriage.

But much of the movement on gay marriage is currently occurring in the states. Nine states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing gay marriage, and two others recognize gay marriages from other states.

On the federal level, the most immediate action might come from the Supreme Court.

The nation’s high court will hear arguments in March on a marriage equality case that would determine whether the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause bars the state of California from defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

What’s unlikely in the near future: Any sort of congressional action undoing the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. Obama ordered his Justice Department to stop defending that law in 2011.

Guns

Obama has already made his agenda on gun control clear, releasing a long list of legislative priorities and executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence.

His inauguration comments were more muted. He never mentioned guns directly, but instead called for all children to know “that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.”

Among the proposals Obama is pushing through Congress is one to require criminal background checks on prospective buyers in all gun sales, a ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds, and renewing the ban on military-style assault weapons. On Thursday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., unveiled legislation to renew the assault weapons ban. House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., pooh-poohed the ban, saying it would give people a “false sense of security.”

Jim Irvine of the Buckeye Firearms Association said that he worries Obama’s proposals will do little to prevent mass shootings. While Irvine does not philosophically oppose background checks for gun buyers, he worries about who can conduct those checks, what information would go into the check and what would disqualify people from owning a gun.

But Toby Hoover of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, who supports stronger gun control measures, feels optimistic, particularly about Obama’s proposals on background checks.

“I think there’s really a chance for all of the things that he called for happening,” she said. “I really do believe this time it’s different.”

Entitlements and the Deficit

Within a few minutes’ time last week, Obama said the two things that had Republicans on the dais behind him utterly mystified.

He said he wanted to reduce the size of the deficit. But he then offered a full-throated defense of entitlements — Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare — saying those programs “do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us.”

Republicans say they don’t disagree with the importance of those programs. But they do say they are unsustainable at the current rate spending. And spending on entitlements, which accounts for about 41 percent of the federal pie, dwarfs most discretionary spending, with the exception of Defense and international spending, which is 20 percent, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

Here’s why that’s important: The nation currently holds a $16.4 trillion debt, and has maxed that out. Economists worry that without significant action, the nation will go bankrupt. They say the nation faces a fiscal emergency if they don’t act to wrestle the nation’s spending under control.

Immigration Reform

Perhaps the least surprising issue that Obama brought up is the need for immigration reform, which both Republicans and Democrats agree is urgent.

Both sides say the nation’s immigration system is broken, with families frequently separated and those seeking a legal route to citizenship delayed at best and stymied at worst.

Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and Tea Party favorite, has rallied his party for immigration reform, saying such reform would allow high-tech companies in the United States to fill vacant jobs that require special technological skills. Elsewhere, a Wall Street Journal poll found 52 percent of respondents favored allowing employed undocumented workers to apply for legal status.

Boehner last week said, “You’re likely to hear a lot more on immigration reform soon.”

Columbus area Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi said there is an appetite in Congress to address the nation’s immigration system, but he’s pessimistic about both sides reaching an accord.

“This guy doesn’t really want to work together,” Tiberi said of Obama. “He wants to win in 2014 so he can do what he wants.”