INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS Prospects for U.S. Climate Policy National Action and International Cooperation in a Changed Political Landscape ANDREW LIGHT DANIEL J. WEISS LISBETH KAUFMAN ADAM JAMES December 2010 The 111th Congress was unable to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation despite Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress and having a Democratic President. The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill but the Senate was unable to muster a super majority of sixty votes to pass its own bill. The major reason for the failure to enact meaningful legislation was high unemployment and the worst economy in eighty years. In addition, there was near unanimous opposition from Republican senators, while Democratic senators were not united. The chance of any meaningful legislation in the coming Congress is very slim due to the Republicans gaining control of the House of Representatives and narrowing the gap in the Senate. Republicans and some Democrats will focus on removing or delaying EPA’s authority to set greenhouse gas pollution reduction standards. Besides federal legislation, the United States has alternative mechanisms that it can use to meet its 2020 target goal of reducing emissions by 17% below 2005 levels as promised in Copenhagen. These include using executive authority to reduce carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act as well as existing regional and state carbon reduction programs. It is important to note that the majority of the American public supports government and international action to mitigate climate change: 77% of those polled in a specific GMU-Yale poll on climate change believe that global warming should be of some concern for Congress. U.S. and European cooperation on climate and energy should not be overburdened with expectations for outcomes that are not possible under current political circumstances. There are, however, areas where cooperation is possible and would help advance the debate in the United States: constant pressure, defending climate science, strengthening the business component of a clean energy economy, and reaching out to subnational initiatives can help advance the climate agenda despite a challenging political climate.