U.S. total carbon emissions increased to a historic high in 2007. During the 2007-09 Great Recession U.S. total carbon emissions declined rapidly due to a combination effective Government energy and carbon policies, and economic factors. Since the U.S. economy has more fully recovered from the Great Recession the decline in total carbon emissions have made much slower progress than advocated by the Obama Administration.
What factors have restrained the U.S.’s ability to make greater progress in reducing total carbon emissions since 2009? And, what possible Federal policy changes will help facilitate greater future U.S. carbon emission reductions?
