As the US Heads to Climate Talks, It Seeks a Plan to 'Trust but Verify'

The United States, like many other countries, has been participating in negotiations in the lead-up to the United Nations' conference on climate change in Paris. The goal is to craft a policy framework that is going to engage all countries in combating global warming and establish institutions that can continue to spur more ambitious efforts over time.

The United States has pledged to reduce its emissions 26%–28% below the 2005 level in 2025. This builds on its pledge at the 2009 Copenhagen conference to lower emissions by 17% below the 2005 level in 2020.

The US pledge, officially called the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), details the progress made to date: emissions are on a downward trajectory, but reductions need to accelerate in order to realize its 2025 pledge.

The same document highlights some of the specific policies the US is implementing to do this, including fuel economy standards that will double the efficiency of cars sold in America between 2009–2025, power sector carbon regulations that will cut CO2 emissions 32% below the 2005 level by 2030, ambitious appliance efficiency standards and potentially regulation of methane emissions from oil and gas operations....

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