The Contours of U.S. Climate Non-Policy

Abstract

Nearly a decade after the Rio summit and 3 years after the signing the Kyoto Protocol, the United States is without a climate policy. Contentious debate focuses on the costs and fairness of various policy options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The previous Federal Administration had proposed three primary market-based technology-centered climate policy approaches. Two of these (global emissions trading and electric utility deregulation) are untested in this context and are effectively stalled. The third (energy efficiency research and development) proposed to expand efforts that have met with mixed success in the past. After reviewing the current state of U.S. climate policy deliberations, this article considers these three approaches in detail. While none is realistic in its present form, each can serve as a basis for future climate policy development in a more congenial political climate, and with a broader range of policy options and interested actors involved.