ABSTRACT
Under the presidency of Barack Obama, climate change has been elevated to the top of the US political agenda several times. Climate legislation was introduced and debated in the 111th Congress (2009–2010), but never gained traction in the Senate. In 2010, following a Supreme Court decision in 2007, the President charged the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with crafting new GHG regulations under the Clean Air Act. EPA regulations were met with protests on Capitol Hill, and a host of unsuccessful attempts to kill such regulations. In June 2013, President Obama launched a Climate Change Action Plan to strengthen US climate policy. Meanwhile, since 2009, recoverable natural gas reserves have increased tremendously, thanks to new technology combining horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The resulting “shale gas revolution” has dramatically changed the US energy market, making cheap natural gas a realistic alternative to coal for electricity generation, and offering a fuel alternative that is cleaner than diesel – a development that, in the short run, has the potential to reduce US GHG emissions independent of regulation.
