After years of gloom, the forecast is brightening for the effort to combat destabilizing changes in the global climate. While formidable barriers still impede domestic and international action, other signs point to new alliances and momentum that could generate meaningful gains. …
At home, most Americans say they believe that human activities have changed the climate. But the partisan divide over limiting carbon emissions remains gaping, partly because the most conservative states typically rely most on fossil fuels: Four-fifths of the states that preferred Mitt Romney over Obama in 2012 emit more carbon per capita than the national average. Five Republican governors are already signaling they won’t submit plans to meet the EPA carbon reductions, and more will inevitably sue to block the rules. No top-tier GOP presidential candidate is pledging national action. CONT.
Ronald Brownstein, National Journal