ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the current political climate both in the United States and internationally on the climate change issue. It treats the United States and its policy development separately because of its unique nature-over the past two decades its policy has developed more or less independently from the rest of the participating countries; the majority of the other developed countries of the world have gone through a process of cohesion, while the United States has historically stood on the sidelines watching but doing very little politically toward curbing the emission of greenhouse gases and controlling climate change. The chapter then takes a look at some of the current legislation being considered in the United States and the evolutionary track taken to get there. Next, this chapter focuses on the political positions and actions of other nations and their involvement in organized policy and looks speci…cally at the pledges from the Copenhagen Accord and what that means for the future.
