The evolution of the United States Climate Change Policies and missed leadership opportunities
Authors
-
María del Pilar Bueno Rubial
Universidad Nacional de Rosario
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3408-6271
Abstract
The main objective of this work lies in exposing the evolution and the main features of the US climate policies expressed in its national, subnational, and foreign dimensions that are naturally interwoven. Thus, we assert some of the main features of traditional political approach to climate change include: an emphasis on costs and the impact of measures to address climate change in the American economy and its economic growth; the questioning of climate science as insufficient to justify the costs of the action; the questioning of the differentiation between developed and developing countries as a valid argument for the US to take the lead in international climate action; the resistance to assume mitigation commitments that collide with the principle of national sovereignty and fundamental freedoms inherited from the founding fathers and the related tension between the role of States and free market value. We also recognize that political ideology and partisanship continue to play a key role in climate change polices in the US. While political and economic denialism has not been able to immobilize subnational governmental and non-governmental climate initiatives, it has undermined the opportunity and the responsibility of the US to sustain leadership as international projection. This contribution follows a qualitative approach based on the analysis of climate change policies at different scales. It is based mainly on documentary and qualitative data analysis.
Keywords:
Estados Unidos, Cambio climático, Políticas climáticas, LiderazgoReferences
Abbott, K. (2012). “The transnational regime complex for climate change”, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, vol. 30, nº 4, pp. 571-590.
American Lung Association (2018). The State of the Air 2018. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://www.lung.org/assets/documents/healthy-air/stateof-the-air/sota-2018-full.pdf
Betsill, M. y Bulkeley, H. (2006), “Cities and the multilevel governance of global climate change”, Global governance: A review of multilateralism and international organizations, vol. 12, nº 2, pp. 141-160.
Bloomberg Philanthropies (2018). Fulfilling America’s Pledge: How States, Cities, and Businesses Are Leading the United States to a Low-Carbon Future. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://www.bbhub.io/dotorg/sites/28/2018/09/Fulfilling-Americas-Pledge-2018.pdf
Bodansky, D. (2010). “The Copenhagen climate change conference: a postmortem”, American Journal of International Law, vol. 104, nº 2, pp. 230-240.
Bodansky, D. (2001). “The history of the global climate change regime”, International relations and global climate change, vol. 23, nº 23, p. 505.
British Petroleum. (2018). BP Energy Outlook 2018 edition. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp-country/de_ch/PDF/Energy-Outlook-2018-edition-Booklet.pdf
Bureau of Public Affairs (2009). Memorandum of Understanding on Enhancing Cooperation on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment at the U.S.–China Strategic and Economic.
Dialogue, Washington DC (July 28, 2009). Recuperado el 13 de febrero de 2020 de https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/july/126597.htm
Cass, L. (2007). “Measuring the Domestic Salience of International Environmental Norms: Climate Change Norms in American, German and British Climate”, en Pettenger, Mary, Social construction of Climate Change. Power, Knowledge, Norms and Discourses, New York: Routledge, pp. 47-74.
Christoff, P. (2008). “The Bali roadmap: Climate change, COP 13 and beyond”, Environmental Politics, vol. 17, nº 3, pp. 466-472.
Climate Action Tracker (2018). USA. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://climateactiontracker.org/media/documents/2018/4/CAT_2017-11-06_CountryAssessment_USA_8fXxIrP.pdf
Collomb, J.D. (2014). “The ideology of climate change denial in the United States” [version electrónica], European journal of American studies, vol. 9, nº 1.Recuperado el 20 de junio de 2020 de https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.10305
Columbia University, Climate Deregulation Tracker. Recuperado el 12 de junio de 2020 de https://climate.law.columbia.edu/climate-deregulation-tracker
Demeritt, D. (2001). “The Construction of Global Warming and the Politics of Science”, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, vol. 91, nº 2, pp. 307–337.
Depledge, J. (2005). ‘Against the grain: The United States and the global climate change regime’, Global Change, Peace & Security, vol. 17, nº 1, pp. 11-27.
Environmental Protection Agency (2018). Inventory of GHG Emissions and Sinks 1990-2016. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-01/documents/2018_executive_summary.pdf
Environmental Protection Agency (2015). Clean Power Plan Fact Sheet. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://archive.epa.gov/epa/cleanpowerplan/fact-sheetoverview-clean-power-plan.html
Farber, D. y Cinnamon C. (2018), “Climate Change Law”, Minnesota: Foundation Press.
Ferreira, S.; Ferreira, K. y Vigevani, T. (2012). “An overview of domestic aspects in US climate policy”, Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, vol. 55, pp. 88-103.
Hochstetler, K. (2012). “The G-77, BASIC, and global climate governance: a new era in multilateral environmental negotiations”, Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, vol 55, pp. 53-69.
IPCC (2018). Global Warming of 1.5°C. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
Kahn, G. (2003). “The Fate of the Kyoto Protocol under the Bush Administration”, Berkeley J. Int’l Law, vol. 21, p. 548.
Karlsson, Ch.; Hjerpe, M.; Parker, Ch. y Linnér, B. (2012). “The Legitimacy of Leadership in International Climate Change Negotiations”, Ambio, vol. 41, nº 1, pp. 46–55.
Katzenstein, P. (1976). “International relations and domestic structures: Foreign economic policies of advanced industrial states”, International Organization, vol. 30, nº 1, pp. 1-45.
Keohane, R. y Victor, D. (2011). The regime complex for climate change. Perspectives on politics, vol. 9, pp. 7-23.
Kuramochi, T.; Höhne, N.; Sterl, S.; Lütkehermöller, K. y Seguers, J-C. (2017). States, cities and businesses leading the way: a first look at decentralized climate commitments in the US, New Climate Institute, September 2017. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://newclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/states-cities-and-regions-leading-theway.pdf
Lee, H.; Arroyo, V. y Roy, M. (2001). “US Domestic Climate Change Policy”, Climate Policy, vol. 1, nº 3, pp. 381-395.
Marcacci, S. y Jenkins, G. (2018). “Top Renewable Energy Financiers Reveal Pathway To $1 Trillion In U.S. Investment”, Forbes, July 11. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2018/07/11/top-renewable-energy-financiers-reveal-pathway-to-1-trillion-in-u-s-investment/#2c96a3a534b0
Oberthür, S. y Tänzler, D. (2007). “Climate policy in the EU: international regimes and policy diffusion”, en Harris, Paul (ed.), Europe and global climate change: Politics, foreign policy and regional cooperation, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 255-278.
Oels, A. (2005). “Rendering Climate Change Governable: From Biopower to Advanced Liberal Government?”, Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, vol. 7, nº 3, pp. 185-207.
Oreskes, Naomi (2004), “The scientific consensus on climate change”, Science, vol. 306, nº 5702, pp. 1686-1686.
Ostrom, E. (2010). “Polycentric systems for coping with collective action and global environmental change”, Global environmental change, vol. 20, nº 4, pp. 550-557.
Parker, Ch. y Karlsson, Ch. (2018). “The UN climate change negotiations and the role of the United States: assessing American leadership from Copenhagen to Paris”, Environmental Politics, vol. 27, nº 3, pp. 519-540.
Parker, Ch.; Karlsson, Ch. y Hjerpe, M. (2015), “Climate change leaders and followers: Leadership recognition and selection in the UNFCCC negotiations”, International Relations, vol. 29, nº 4, pp. 434-454.
Parker, Ch.; Karlsson, Ch.; Hjerpe, M. y Linnér, B. (2012). “Fragmented climate change leadership: making sense of the ambiguous outcome of COP-15”, Environmental Politics, vol. 21, nº 2, pp. 268-286.
Pettenger, M. (2007). Social construction of Climate Change. Power, Knowledge, Norms and Discourses, New York: Routledge.
Petterson, T. (2004). “The evolution of state climate change policy in the United States: Lessons learned and new directions”, Widener LJ, vol. 14, pp. 81-120.
Pew Research Center (2019). ‘More Republicans say stricter environmental regulations are ‘worth the cost’, February 2019, available at http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/07/more-republicans-say-stricter-environmental-regulations-are-worth-the-cost/ (5 June, 2020).
Pew Research Center (2018). Democrats and Republicans tend to disagree over evidence of and main causes of climate change. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/05/14/majorities-see-government-efforts-to-protect-the-environment-as-insufficient/ps-05-10-18_report-10/
Pew Research Center (2018). Most Americans say climate change affects their local community, including two-thirds living near coast’, May 2018. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/16/most-americans-say-climate-changeaffects-their-local-community-including-two-thirds-living-near-coast/
Pollin, R.; Garrett-Peltier; H.; Heintz, J.; Scharber, H. (2008). Green recovery: A program to create good jobs & start building a low-carbon economy, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (2019). Renewables 2019. Global Status Report. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://y3i6c3u4.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/gsr_2019_full_report_en.pdf
Rosa, E. y Dietz, T. (1998). “Climate change and society: Speculation, construction and scientific investigation”, International Sociology, vol. 13, nº 4, pp. 421-455.
Rosendal, K. (2001). “Overlapping international regimes: the case of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) between climate change and biodiversity”, International Environmental Agreements, vol. 1, nº 4, pp. 447-468.
Schroeder, M. (2008). “The construction of China’s climate politics: transnational NGOs and the spiral model of international relations”, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, vol. 21, nº4, pp. 505-525.
Sheppard, K. (2015). Poll Finds Strong Majority Of Americans Support An International Climate Agreement, The Huffington Post. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/30/us-climate-agreement_n_6972434.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green
Stehr, N. y Von Storch, H. (1995), “The social construct of climate and climate change”, Climate Research, vol. 5, nº 2, pp. 99-105.
The White House (2015). U.S.-China Joint Presidential Statement on Climate Change, September 25, 2015. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/25/us-china-joint-presidential-statement-climate-change
The White House (2014). U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change, November 11, 2014. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the -press- office/2014/11/11/us-china-joint-announcement-climate-change
United Nations Environmental Program (2018). Emissions Gap Report 2018. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/emissions-gap-report/
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1997). Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate. Implementation of the Berlin Mandate. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de http://unfccc.int/cop3/resource/docs/1997/agbm/misc01a4.htm
United States (2013). Clean Action Plan. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/image/president27sclimateactionplan.pdf
United States Academy of Sciences and Royal Society (2014). Climate change: evidence and causes. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/exec-office-other/climate-change-full.pdf
United States Energy Information Administration (2016). Visual data provided by the Georgetown Climate Center. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2020 de http://www.georgetownclimate.org/SEAtool
United States Global Change Research Program (2018). Impacts, Risks and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment’, Washington, DC: U.S. Global Change Research Program.
United States Energy Information Administration (2020). US Energy facts explained. Recuperado el 10 de junio de 2020 de https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2015). United States Intended National Determined Contribution. Recuperado el 1 de junio de 2020 de https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/United%20States%20of%20America%20First/U.S.A.%20First%20NDC%20Submission.pdf
Ungar, S. (1992). “The Rise and (Relative) Decline of Global Warming as a Social Problem”, Sociological Quarterly, vol. 33, nº 4, pp. 483–501.
Waterman, P.K. (2003), “From Kyoto to ANWR: Critiquing the Bush Administration’s Withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate Change”. Transnat’l L. & Contemp. Probs., vol. 13, pp. 749-769.
Yamin, F. y Depledge, J. (2004). The international climate change regime: a guide to rules, institutions and procedures, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Young, O. (2004). “The consequences of international regimes”, en Underdal, Kirstin and Young, Oran, Regime Consequences, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 3-23.
Twitter