Chapter 2: U.S. Policy and Public Opinion: Climate Change or Hot Air?
As argued in chapter one, there is an apparent consensus that climate change will threaten global human and ecological security. Climate change is believed to be one of the biggest threats facing humanity, therefore, over the past decade, it has become a politically heated debate. Why then hasn’t the United States - the government and the people - subscribed to a course of action to the climate challenge? The objective of this chapter is to explore the political and social processes shaping climate discourse in America.
2.1 The Paris Agreement and Obamas Clean Power Plan: A new beginning for the U.S.?
Since the late 80’s, the United States has been fickle in its global cooperation for climate change. To illustrate, Washington supported the 87’ Montreal Protocol, which was “designed to control the production and consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halogenated compounds that were suspected of causing the destruction of the ozone layer” (Coyne & Maunder, 2015). A few years later, however, the U.S. failed to ratify the 1992 Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because they wanted to include less-industrialized countries in the requirements of the treaty; this proposal failed to win support (Theilmann, 2016). Also, after the 08’ …show more content…
is finally serious about cutting their gas emissions, and they’re willing to participate on a global level post-Kyoto. Furthermore, the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement are significant in the climate change debate because they’re moving past superfluous arguments of whether climate change is real to taking action and consulting the science (CITE). In time, these two initiatives should prevent further environmental degradation, and also alter the status quo to improve how America interacts within the climate regime and also with the
As argued in chapter one, there is an apparent consensus that climate change will threaten global human and ecological security. Climate change is believed to be one of the biggest threats facing humanity, therefore, over the past decade, it has become a politically heated debate. Why then hasn’t the United States - the government and the people - subscribed to a course of action to the climate challenge? The objective of this chapter is to explore the political and social processes shaping climate discourse in America.
2.1 The Paris Agreement and Obamas Clean Power Plan: A new beginning for the U.S.?
Since the late 80’s, the United States has been fickle in its global cooperation for climate change. To illustrate, Washington supported the 87’ Montreal Protocol, which was “designed to control the production and consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halogenated compounds that were suspected of causing the destruction of the ozone layer” (Coyne & Maunder, 2015). A few years later, however, the U.S. failed to ratify the 1992 Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because they wanted to include less-industrialized countries in the requirements of the treaty; this proposal failed to win support (Theilmann, 2016). Also, after the 08’ …show more content…
is finally serious about cutting their gas emissions, and they’re willing to participate on a global level post-Kyoto. Furthermore, the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement are significant in the climate change debate because they’re moving past superfluous arguments of whether climate change is real to taking action and consulting the science (CITE). In time, these two initiatives should prevent further environmental degradation, and also alter the status quo to improve how America interacts within the climate regime and also with the