Climate Change Policy, Political Discourse, and Federal Action in America

Historical Overview of Climate Change in American Politics

• Public discourse regarding climate change began in the 1970s, but it did not gain significant public traction until the 21st century.

• Climate change intersects with central historical through lines, including political partisanship, legislative inaction, corruption, and the consequences of past and present choices made by Americans.

• Vice President Al Gore's active engagement with environmentalism originated during his tenure in Congress in 1976.

• In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore ran for president and lost in an extremely close race that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court.

• Following his defeat in the 2000 election, Al Gore transitioned into private work and eventually produced the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

• An Inconvenient Truth outlined the potential disastrous consequences of a warming planet and climate change resulting from increases in $CO_2$

• Political divide on environmentalism:

  • The political left began to focus on climate change as an existential crisis requiring urgent action.

  • The political right pushed back against climate initiatives, asserting that climate change was a hoax designed to limit America's global power and economic influence.

International Agreements and the Kyoto Protocol

• While the rest of the world generally recognized the gravity of global warming, American public opinion lagged behind due to ongoing political debates and starkly fragmented media channels.

• The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty crafted in 1998 designed specifically to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

• The United States became one of the few nations that did not sign or ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

• President Bush opposed the treaty, arguing that the Kyoto Protocol would cause economic harm to the United States, and Congress refused to ratify the agreement.

• Following the rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, President Bush took measures to tamp down official climate change research.

Scientific Censorship and Political Resistance

• By 2006, numerous scientists felt they were being directed or pressured to avoid using specific terms such as "climate change" or "global warming" in their work.

• Many Republican politicians asserted that the scientific consensus behind climate change was actively disputed, despite widespread agreement among scientific professionals.

Questions and Discussion

• Reflection prompt on policy and societal changes: What steps should society take to cut down carbon emissions?

• Recorded side conversation and dialogue during discussion:

  • Response/Exclamation: "Oh my god. Paris, Paris is over in five minutes. I know. It's Tuesday too. That's why we're"

Executive Actions and Policy under the Obama Administration

• Upon taking office, President Barack Obama agreed that a coordinated federal response was necessary to tackle global warming.

• Obama faced significant legislative limitations due to the reluctance of congressional members from both political parties to pass sweeping climate change legislation.

• Key federal administrative policies and regulatory standards achieved under Obama:

  • Increased the minimum fuel efficiency requirements for automobiles.

  • Mandated that certain coal-burning power plants capture carbon emissions to prevent further pollution of the wider environment.

• While historical analysis tracks these past policy efforts, the exact societal and environmental transformations climate change will bring in the future remain an open question for current and upcoming generations.