Policy decisions at all levels (local to global) seem absolutely necessary for emissions reductions to be successfull in due time to avoid catastrophes, which unfortunately may mean that "hope? what hope?" is one of the realistic choices.

The local level reacts first because local power is less out of our control but many decisions about infrastructure, regulation and funding for R&D are made at the national level. Seeing how the federal level in the US is trying to prevent California from enforcing its vehicle emissions standards, seems to indicate that at minimum a neutral fed will be necessary for some of the major local policies to come into effect.