"Climate Skepticism" inside the Beltway and across the Bay 1

In the first edition of Anthropology and Climate Change I wrote about climate change policy from “inside the Beltway”—an insiders’ view from within the politically charged arena of the United States’ capital. I wrote the chapter while I was working as a senior legislative aide in the U.S. Senate (2000–2009), drafting legislation and staffing hearings on climate change and cap and trade bills for a senator who was a senior member of the influential Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. At the time all signs pointed to a national carbon emissions policy.