Book contents
- Implementing Climate Change Policy
- Implementing Climate Change Policy
- Copyright page
- Additional material
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Comparing Climate Policies
- 1 The Earth’s Climate and Ongoing Global Change
- 2 Building Blocks of the European Union’s Strategy for Climate Neutrality
- 3 Environmental Constitutionalism
- 4 Avoiding Russia’s Sphere of Influence: The European Union, Energy Supply and Climate Sustainability
- 5 The USA and Climate Policies
- 6 Great Expectations
- 7 What Does ‘Green’ Mean for a Green Belt and Road?
- 8 Embracing Complexity: Water and Climate Policy in the Middle East and North Africa
- 9 Between Europe and the People’s Republic of China: Understanding Africa’s Energy Transition
- Part II Designing Effective Governance Mechanisms
- Conclusion
- Documents
- Cases
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - The USA and Climate Policies
Patterns and Progress in Compounded Muddling
from Part I - Comparing Climate Policies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 November 2024
- Implementing Climate Change Policy
- Implementing Climate Change Policy
- Copyright page
- Additional material
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Comparing Climate Policies
- 1 The Earth’s Climate and Ongoing Global Change
- 2 Building Blocks of the European Union’s Strategy for Climate Neutrality
- 3 Environmental Constitutionalism
- 4 Avoiding Russia’s Sphere of Influence: The European Union, Energy Supply and Climate Sustainability
- 5 The USA and Climate Policies
- 6 Great Expectations
- 7 What Does ‘Green’ Mean for a Green Belt and Road?
- 8 Embracing Complexity: Water and Climate Policy in the Middle East and North Africa
- 9 Between Europe and the People’s Republic of China: Understanding Africa’s Energy Transition
- Part II Designing Effective Governance Mechanisms
- Conclusion
- Documents
- Cases
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In the face of its international reputation for intransigence and foot-dragging on climate warming policy, combined with its deserved reputation for profligate fossil fuel consumption, the USA has actually reduced its greenhouse gas emissions since 1990. Continued compounded muddling, consisting of stricter national administrative regulation of energy efficiency and pollution control, new state and local government initiatives, further non-governmental governance developments and market-driven economic responses are together likely to support extending the current trends of reduced energy intensity and reduced greenhouse gas emissions over the next few decades, perhaps even to accelerate it. But a U.S. commitment to doing the right thing – whether conceived as doing what it would take to achieve the level of zero net emissions by 2050, or to accomplish the even more draconian reductions needed to soon halt global temperature rise – is unlikely in the absence of something that causes coalescence of a new normative political landscape.
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- Implementing Climate Change PolicyDesigning and Deploying Net Zero Carbon Governance, pp. 80 - 93Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024