Business and federal climate change policies in the United States

David Vogel

Chapter 4 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Business and Government, 2026, pp 17-22 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Both the successes and failures of American climate change policy are importantly linked to the political power and policy preferences of business, specifically the 79 percent of the American economy that is dependent on fossil fuels. Consequently, policies that require comprehensive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions have not been adopted, while more narrowly based sectoral regulations have succeeded. Thus, the United States has ratified neither the Kyoto Protocol nor the Paris Climate Agreement. None of the legislative proposals establishing a cap-and trade emissions reduction system have passed. However, the federal government has enacted appliance energy efficiency and vehicle fuel economy standards and has phased out hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas. The Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration signature climate change legislative accomplishment, does not regulate GHG emissions but rather sought to reduce them through tax and spending incentives.

Keywords: Climate change; Business; Federal; Regulation; Greenhouse gases; Public policy; Legislation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035307777
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