Turning down the Heat: The Politics of Climate Policy in Affluent Democracies

It is now generally agreed that climate change is occurring and that greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut very significantly, yet governments in affluent democracies are not implementing policies that have the capacity to do this. As economists have identified numerous economically viable ways of radically cutting emissions, it seems that the chief obstacles to decisive action are political in nature. This book tackles the issue of how these might be overcome by providing a broad-ranging and authoritative overview of the contemporary politics of climate policy in affluent democracies in order to identify political strategies that would make it easier for governments to make major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions without sustaining significant political damage. As such it is essential reading for anyone who wishes to improve their understanding of how climate change can be brought under control.