Domestic Climate Change Initiatives

Clear Skies Initiative

The Clear Skies Initiative is the United States’ domestic response to global warming. It was implemented in 2003 under the Bush Administration. The Clear Skies Initiative calls for a 70% reduction of pollutants by power plants over a 15 year period. However, while the initiative aims to combat global warming and other health hazards associated with pollution, it should not be confused with the Kyoto Protocol.

Kyoto primarily focuses on the reduction of carbon dioxide, the leading pollutant; the Clear Skies Initiative instead focuses on the pollutants mercury, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide. Also, the Clear Skies Initiative operates on a market-based system where market pressures would encourage industries to cooperate with the regulations. It thus depends on voluntary participation, and gives participating industries "pollution credits" with which industries could sell to those industries which surpass the acceptable pollution level. This is called a "cap and trade" system.

By relying on market pressures to promote pollution reduction, some critics find that the initiative is a way of getting around the old Clean Air Act which relied more heavily on enforcement agencies such as the EPA. However, supporters of the initiative find that Clear Skies is a way of getting around the expensive and bureaucratic measures of the Clean Air Act -- and the Kyoto Protocol.

Carbon Tax

This proposed tax could be easily implemented by adding it to the price of gasoline. Supporters and detractors both note that it would affect all gasoline users: citizens, who generally produce lower levels of greenhouse gases, would bear a greater burden, while businesses that produce pollution would likely see their responsibility diminish. A carbon tax could potentially generate an additional $40 billion of revenue a year.

Senate Climate Change Resolution

In 2005, Congress recognized scientific consensus that humans have possibly influenced climate change. However, conservatives have delayed action by questioning the accuracy of scientific evidence.