Federal Climate Policy 101: Reducing Emissions
An overview of climate policy tools available for federal emissions reduction efforts and the key criteria for evaluating climate policy.
Explainer by Richard Newell — 11 minute read — March 3, 2021
Introduction
Federal climate policy is the set of actions taken by the US federal government to address and mitigate the effects of climate change. Climate policy includes policies to mitigate climate change (reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, so that the climate does not change as much or as quickly); and to adapt to climate change (helping communities and businesses to build resilience and avoid the worst effects of warmer temperatures, extreme weather, and other impacts).
This explainer focuses on policies aimed at reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in order to reduce the increase in the overall temperature of the planet and resulting impacts. It lays out the primary policy instruments—in general terms—that can be used to achieve this goal, and describes how such policies can be evaluated, including a set of criteria that can help to determine how effective, efficient, and equitable a policy is in achieving its climate goals.
Federal Climate Policy Toolkit
https://www.rff.org/publications/explainers/federal-climate-policy-101/
