Climate Change Legislation: Current Developments and Emerging Trends

Abstract

Over the past 3 decades from the 1980s forward, the subject of climate change has progressed from general study and media interest to a daily hot topic discussion in all aspects of society worldwide. In the same way, carbon management programs, climate change legislation, energy legislation, and similar mitigation programs and reduction initiatives have moved from the planning process to reality in many federal, state, and local governments throughout the world. Legislative approaches and carbon management strategies have, thus, become a topic of great interest in businesses, industries, and local communities across the globe that will be impacted by both the effects of climate change and the cost to mitigate carbon emissions. In recent years, various legislative programs and mitigation approaches have been introduced with the intent to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutants emitted into the atmosphere that have global warming potentials above thresholds of concern. The major driver for legislative approaches to mitigate emissions of these pollutants is the belief that continued increases of the GHG emissions from man-made sources (e.g., industrial emission sources, electricity generation facilities, on-road and off-road mobile transportation sources, etc.) are contributing to increases in global temperatures that could have dramatic climate and, subsequently, environmental impacts. The myriad of legislative approaches and regulatory programs in consideration or already implemented are vast, diverse, ever-changing, and excessively politically charged. The intent of this chapter is to summarize the historical background of climate change policy development and potential legislative strategies, review current climate change legislation proposals and regulatory programs including major regional and international GHG emission reduction programs in place or in development, and discuss emerging trends in worldwide climate change legislation.