The purpose of this paper is to explore what the United States has achieved with regards to climate policy, present the limitations it has encountered that have prevented it from creating comprehensive policy, and to explain why the future of climate change policy is highly uncertain. It is found that while there have been significant gains, four key limitations including a rise in conservative ideology, international noncooperation from the United States, poor use of adversarial legalism, and poor timing, have been sufficient in preventing the United States from creating comprehensive climate change policy. This paper concludes with a look to the future in climate policymaking, estimating whether or not a breakthrough will be feasible
