11 - Endangering the Climate

Summary

For the United States, which already bears costs from human-caused climate change, taking action to address the crisis is cheaper than doing nothing. Yet, the Trump administration not only pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement but banded together with Russia and Saudi Arabia to undermine progress in international climate talks. The administration attempted to derail the prudent efforts by state governments and the nonfossil-fuel private sector to adapt to the changing economic opportunities in response to the climate crisis. It curbed states’ rights, e.g., blocking California’s efforts to tighten vehicle fuel-efficiency standards in line with global demand. It used regulatory powers to block the financial sector’s decision not to fund Arctic drilling and pension-fund managers’ growing interest in considering environmental, social and governance issues that affect their investment returns. The United States can still right its course on climate action. In December 2020, Congress enacted legislation to fund clean energy investments and to mandate cuts in hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas, for which US manufacturers are leaders for substitute products. While ambitious climate legislation faces tremendous hurdles in Congress, these narrower provisions, framed as strategies to support American jobs and leadership in manufacturing, were able to win bipartisan support.