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This article examines the efforts of businesses to voluntarily control the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). American policymakers have not ratified the Kyoto Treaty to control the emission of GHG, feeling the initiative is futile if developing countries such as China, India and Brazil are exempt, and that the costs of compliance with the Treaty will provide a drag on the U.S. economy. This has created uncertainty in the U.S. business sector, where managers do not have a clear picture of future market environments from which to make strategic business decisions. The article examines the voluntary control of GHG emissions as a market transition, and explains how industry will react to changes in the marketplace where Kyoto Protocol and voluntary controls are observed.

Although substantial attention has focused on efforts by the new Administration to block environmental policies, climate politics have been contentious in the US since well before the election of Donald Trump. In this paper, we extend previous work on empirical examinations of echo chambers in US climate politics using new data collected on the federal climate policy network in summer 2016. We test for the similarity and differences at two points in time in homophily and echo chambers using Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM) to compare new findings from 2016 to previous work on data from 2010. We show that echo chambers continue to play a significant role in the network of information exchange among policy elites working on the issue of climate change. In contrast to previous findings where echo chambers centered on a binding international commitment to emission reductions, we find that the pre-existing echo chambers have almost completely disappeared and new structures have formed around one of the main components of the Obama Administration’s national climate policy: the Clean Power Plan. These results provide empirical evidence that science communication and policymaking at the elite level shift in relation to the policy instruments under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on judicial and public policy responses to climate change laws in the U.S. Topics include the impact of climate change on U.S. environmental law, the administrative process of creating environmental impact laws, and the work of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the enforcement of these laws.

Limited awareness of environmental remote sensing's potential ability to support environmental policy development constrains the technology's utilization. This paper reviews the potential of earth observation from the perspective of environmental policy. A literature review of "remote sensing and policy" revealed that while the number of publications in this field increased almost twice as rapidly as that of remote sensing literature as a whole (15.3 versus 8.8% yr-1), there is apparently little academic interest in the societal contribution of environmental remote sensing. This is because none of the more than 300 peer reviewed papers described actual policy support. This paper describes and discusses the potential, actual support, and limitations of earth observation with respect to supporting the various stages of environmental policy development. Examples are given of the use of remote sensing in problem identification and policy formulation, policy implementation, and policy control and evaluation. While initially, remote sensing contributed primarily to the identification of environmental problems and policy implementation, more recently, interest expanded to applications in policy control and evaluation. The paper concludes that the potential of earth observation to control and evaluate, and thus assess the efficiency and effectiveness of policy, offers the possibility of strengthening governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the significant role of U.S. cities and their inhabitants in climate change governance in the country. It evaluates how voices from cities affect the implementation of climate change regulations, including emissions reduction strategies and the goal of adaptive management. Also, it explores how climate change debate and the search for legal solutions prevent the phenomenon that might take account of global urbanization.

The article discusses the mandate for federal corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for light trucks in the U.S. The Ninth Circuit reviewed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Final Rule from the lawsuit, Center for Biological Diversity v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Petitioners challenged the standards under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The court found a number of problems with the standards as adopted and held that NHTSA should have included the impacts of climate change in its analysis.

The article focuses on programs that have been launched by state and local governments in the U.S. to control climatic changes by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases from vehicles and power plants. The state governments have taken measures in response to climate changes by developing appropriate environmental laws. It seeks international cooperation for the solution of climate change. Energy reliability, protection of local industries, and innovative technology development are some benefits the state government can avail by regulating climate change.

The article examines the scientific basis of global climate change and the implications of the reticence of the U.S. government to deal with its consequences through mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. It explores why some scientists and world leaders believe global climate change is the most urgent threat that faces humanity. It also discusses the purpose and provisions of the country's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which provides the statutory basis for some court cases dealing with climate change.

The scientific evidence and understanding underpinning societal responsibility for the accelerating pace of climate change has become increasingly strong over the past hundred years. Although many nations have begun to take actions that have the potential to eventually slow the pace of change, contention over the issue continues in the United States, particularly in the nation's capital. A major cause appears to arise from different interpretations of the evidence arising from different perspectives on the issue, including those of the scientific, environmental, fossil-fuel generating, technological, economic and ethical communities, In addition, the public encounters a cacophony of intermixed perspectives from the media and elected officials. While each perspective provides some useful insights, each alone contributes to inhibiting development of the national political consensus needed to responsibly address climate change. Without leadership that balances and reconciles competing perspectives, it is unlikely that a sufficient limiting of emissions will be enacted to prevent significant changes in climate that will impose increasing challenges for those in both developing and developed nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article discusses the ideal design features of a domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading program that are critical to the cost-effective implementation of future U.S. climate change policy. The discussion of a properly designed domestic GHG trading program is coupled with an analysis of both the European Union's Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions Trading Directive and the Climate Stewardship Act of 2003, proposed by Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman. The Article begins with the argument that climate change policy does not necessarily entail huge compliance costs. Rather, implementation of well-designed domestic climate change policy will have the effect of aligning energy development and environmental protection goals while minimizing its short-term economic impacts. By encouraging reduced fossil fuel usage, climate change policy has the potential to integrate sustainability concerns into all levels of economic decision making, thereby producing ancillary societal benefits such as improvements in existing air quality and public health. In light of the large number of pollution sources and the relative ease in measuring CO2 emissions, this Article argues that emissions trading or a carbon tax system should be an essential part of any successful climate stabilization strategy. However, it is unlikely that a carbon tax will be politically acceptable in the United States despite the tax's theoretical appeal. Based on prior experiments with emissions trading programs in the United States, the Article discusses the ideal design features of domestic GHG emissions trading. These features include early reduction credits, banking and borrowing, opt-in, offset trading, international emissions trading, and effective monitoring and verification. During the course of discussion, the Article examines the program elements of the European Union's CO2 Emissions Trading Directive and the Climate Stewardship Act. Lastly, this Article briefly introduces several studies that have estimated the economic effects of the Climate Stewardship Act. The Article concludes that domestic climate change policy can be implemented in a cost-effective manner and stresses the need for the United States to take domestic action on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the science policy of John Edwards, a presidential candidate for the 2008 elections in the U.S. It states that Edwards wants to change the policies related to science and aims towards countering pollution, climatic changes, and increase science funding for the development of research works on stem cells. It also mentions Edwards' policies for the economic development of the U.S., which includes low cost Internet for rural communities, and more research works on autism and fragile X syndrome. Edwards endorses Friends of the Earth Action, a nonprofit group that proposes to reduce greenhouse emissions. It mentions that the environmental policies of Edwards, which includes his opposition towards the expansion of nuclear power and eradicating the use of carbon-based fuel.

The non-participation of the United States in the recently ratified Kyoto Protocol is a matter for global concern because it is estimated that the country produces 24% of all greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide. Here we analyse the commitment of individual states and municipalities to addressing this problem and find that, despite the federal policy, between 24 and 35% of the US population are currently (or soon will be) engaged in policies directed towards significantly reducing anthropogenic climate change. The importance of this sub-national effort, which we estimate corresponds to 27–49% of the gross domestic product, will depend — like the targets adopted in Kyoto — on the real reductions achieved in greenhouse-gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the release of the evaluations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding climate change. It calls for health-surveillance systems to include climate sensitive pathogens and vectors as well as recommendations for research to model the health impacts of climate-related events. The report was written by a team of government and independent scientists under the guidance of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). CDC was under a U.S. government's climate change science program.

The article offers information on the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Policy Program in the U.S. The objective of the program is to strengthen the connections between public policy and earth system science and services. It is stated that 2007 has marked the program a year of growth and expansion with deepening roots in climate policy, advancing the role of weather and climate sciences to protect and support public health and health care delivery, and focusing on the societal valuation of meteorological products and services.