Powers, Melissa --- "US Municipal Climate Plans: What Role Will Cities Play in Climate Change Mitigation?" [2012] ELECD 718; in Richardson, J. Benjamin (ed), "Local Climate Change Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Local Climate Change Law

Editor(s): Richardson, J. Benjamin

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857937476

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: US Municipal Climate Plans: What Role Will Cities Play in Climate Change Mitigation?

Author(s): Powers, Melissa

Number of pages: 30

Extract:

5. US municipal climate plans: what role
will cities play in climate change
mitigation?
Melissa Powers*

1. INTRODUCTION
For the past two decades, municipalities throughout the United States have
been developing and implementing local climate action plans designed to
reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from US cities.1 As the US govern-
ment moves away from efforts to pass comprehensive climate change legisla-
tion, and as some states have retreated from their previous commitments to
reduce GHG emissions,2 local government efforts have taken on increased
importance in reducing American GHG emissions. Despite this trend,
however, one may reasonably question whether local governments can play a
meaningful role in effectively reducing emissions and mitigating climate
change. Climate change, after all, is a global problem subject to significant
leakage concerns that may render local action ineffective when measured
against global GHG increases.3 What role can cities in the United States real-
istically play in confronting the massive problem of global climate change and
how have US cities done so far in their efforts to address climate change?
A review of the scholarship and an evaluation of various cities' efforts
demonstrate that local governments can meaningfully affect daily actions that
contribute to global climate change. At first glance, it may appear that the


* The author thanks Benjamin Richardson for his helpful comments and for
organizing a very engaging workshop about local climate law. Thanks also to Paige
Spence for her helpful research assistance and Shari Lachin for editing help.
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