Policy Because climate change is a global as well as national and local issue, policies to address it have arisen at all levels: International
The international response to the problem of climate change took its first major step forward with the signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Convention sets an ultimate objective of stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions "at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system." It states that "such a level should be achieved within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened, and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner." Among other provisions, the Convention requires industrialized countries to prepare and update inventories of greenhouse gas emissions. As its name implies, the UNFCCC was always intended to be a "framework" document -- something to be amended over time so that efforts to deal with climate change can be strengthened. The first addition to the treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, was adopted in 1997. It set mandatory targets for greenhouse gas emissions for most industrialized nations, aiming for an overall 5% reduction from 1990 levels. National
Momentum to address climate change is building at the federal level. The President has set a national goal of at least an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The U.S. House passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) in June of 2009 and the Senate is debating a national approach to climate change. On December 7, 2009 the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a finding that six key greenhouse gases (GHGs) endanger pubic health. See http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.html for background on this action. This finding results from a Supreme Court decision in Aprll of 2007 that GHGs are pollutants subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act. While the finding does not create any new rules in the near term, it underpins EPA's decision to strengthen limits on vehicle emissions. For federal executive updates on energy and environment go to:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/energy_and_environment/ State & Regional
There is growing interest in the United States in state-level actions to address the effects of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.In addition to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, of which New York is a part, a number of other states are addressing climate change on a regional basis. For information on some of these initiatives, see the following: Midwest Governors' Accord
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
Southern Governors' Association, Climate Change Initiative
Western Climate Initiative
Western Governors' Association, Clean and Diversified Energy Initiative
On an individual basis, more than 20 states have prepared a state climate action plan. Many states have held stakeholder processes, and those processes have led to new policies being proposed or adopted. Typically, the policies serve multiple aims such as improving air quality, reducing traffic congestion, securing reliable energy supplies, preserving land, or improving waste management, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Examples of other state action plans in process or completed include the following: Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Iowa
Illinois
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Montana
New Jersey
New Mexico
North Carolina
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin
For more information, see the following:
The New America Foundation's State Climate Policy Tracker, a spreadsheet with information on elements of state climate action plans and their implementation.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, State Action List
Pew Center on Global Climate Change, State Policy To download the free Adobe reader to open ".PDF" files, go to:
http://get.adobe.com/reader/ and click on your operating sytstem (e.g. Windows XP) to begin.
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