ABSTRACT
The conflicting range of domestic interests that have driven the politics of climate change in the United States (US) is well documented, as is US reluctance to engage fully with the global climate regime (Falkner 2005; Depledge 2005). The fractured agendas on energy security and climate change have frustrated the efforts of many US leaders in putting forward economy-wide plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the implications of which extend beyond US borders (Bartosiewicz and Miley 2013; Pooley 2010; Skocpol 2013).1 Congressional reluctance in ratifying prospective international legal instruments on climate change has been one of the principal factors constraining progress at the international level.
