ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book argues that the record of the eight years of the Barack Obama Presidency with regard to climate policy marked a step change from both the tone and the policy actions of the previous administration of the Republican George W. Bush. It analyses the so-called 'golden age' of US environmental policy. The chapter then explores a number of key policy initiatives. These include the Clean Power Plan (CPP) and the contribution of the Obama administration to the 2015 UN Paris COP21 climate change conference. The book focuses on energy policy and the energy mix in the US and the relationship to action on climate change. It argues that the relative lack of action on climate change at the federal level of government in the US has opened up a policy space which a number of states and cities have sought to fill.
