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2008-09 Seminars
The Politics of Climate Change:
An inside Account from our Nation's Capital
Robert Kaminski
Master of Science, Public Policy and Management
H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and
Management
Carnegie Mellon University
Abstract
As oil shot up past $150 per barrel this past
summer, gasoline above $4 per gallon and record
global temperatures were recorded, the U.S. federal
government went on something of climate safari. All
branches had different fingers in the climate change
pie - the result being a once-delicious pastry
treat, now uneatable.
- The Congress seriously mangled the politicking of
a substantial legislative proposal for a
cap-and-trade system;
- The Environmental Protection Agency attempted to
strike out on its own to regulate greenhouse gas
emissions under dubious authority;
- A functioning emissions trading market was struck
down by the courts and;
- Top it all off, President Bush finally decided
(after 8 years) that the U.S. should pledge to
emissions reduction, along with the rest of the
developed world
All of this activity happening
within the span of less than 2 months had something
of a reverse-Midas effect. Everything touched turn
to mud. In this presentation, I show how misguided
leaders, legislators, regulators, and companies and
the political jockeying between them led to the
shelving of the climate issue until next year - when
cooler heads might consider taking it up again.
Providing, of course, that our economy is still
intact…
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