When U.S. citizens vote in November, the whole world will be watching. One question among many: will a new president invigorate international climate change negotiations?
 | Presidential CandidatesHillary Clinton and Barack Obama both want to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate protection - if they win (Photo: Reuters) |
When it comes to climate change politics, the big event of 2008 will be the presidential election in the United States in November. The next U.S. President’s climate policy will profoundly affect the policies of major emitting nations like China, and will largely shape how ambitious a post-Kyoto international agreement on climate protection can be.
Democrat candidates like Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards call for mandatory emissions trading and massive investment in renewable energy. Obama and Clinton pledged to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, while Edwards still wants mandatory carbon caps for emerging countries like India and China.
Republican candidates like Mitt Romney and Rudy Guiliani usually stress energy independence. John McCain and Mike Huckabee are the only Republican candidates that support carbon trading and mandatory CO2 emissions cuts.
A lot could depend on the Climate Security Act. The bill, approved by a U.S. Senate committee, calls for a roughly 70 percent cut from 2005 levels by 2050 in greenhouse gases emissions. If the bill passes through Congress this summer, presidential candidates may concentrate on other issues; if it is still pending, it could remain a key election issue.
Experts also some expect action from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this year. The EPA must respond to last year’s Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases constitute pollution, thereby obligating it to act to curb emissions.
A huge question mark hangs over U.S. climate policy: could some as-yet-unknown event – a new conflict or devastating hurricane – swing public attention away from or towards the environment? Given their differing environmental policies, whether a Democrat or Republican is elected into office could shape the world for years to come.
editor: James Tulloch
publishing date: January 10, 2008
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