Election results in the United States are mostly final and the Republican Party has had a big night, capturing control of the US Senate, which combined with a Republican-controlled House of Representative means that President Barack Obama will face a united (in party name, at least) Republican Congress upon the opening of the new Congressional session–the 114th–which meets for the first time in early January of next year.
The New York Times has a handy graphic, summarizing the disconcerting results (from the perspective of climate change politics) of exit polls earlier today. This seems to be disheartening news to those who wish to see the United States government become more proactive in the are of climate politics and climate change. As you can see, while six in 10 voters said that climate change is a problem, fully 83\% of the partisans of the majority party in Congress believe the same.
Clouds, Clocks, and Sitting at Tables 
I agree with tkg19 that US’s leadership is needed to encourage the international community to take the necessary steps needed to mitigate climate change. Now that the Republican party has taken over the Senate, holding denialist views, the hopes that meaningful action against climate change will be taken in the near future seem null. However, hopefully the civil society, the international bodies and environmental leaders influence the business and political culture and psychology of those in power who are against reducing carbon emissions. The senate should become representative of the larger population needs and wants, so with enough and strong pressure to set climate change at the fore front of the agenda, the US congress might be able to reconsider its views regarding climate change.
This is truly disheartening news. The United States is seen as a dominant force by many in the international sphere. It is one of the very few nations that has the ability to influence individuals across the globe on certain values and ideals. Imagine if the United States developed an initiative that saw the development and improvement of sustainable energy sources? Imagine if it succeeded? I believe that many nations would follow suite and also adopt such initiatives. If even a small group of nations, including the US and Canada, adopted and implemented such strategies, we could dramatically reduce our carbon emissions and even our carbon footprint. But if the majority of US’ state officials believe that climate change really isn’t a problem, the above example is pretty much just a optimistic dream. If the attitude of US’ state officials doesn’t change, seasons will continue to shift, temperatures to climb, and sea levels to rise. Millions of individuals will continue to feel the adverse effects of climate change.If we don’t act now, climate change will rapidly alter the lands and waters we all depend upon for survival, leaving our children and grandchildren with a drastically different world.