Climate change is often described as a significant global challenge best addressed with centralized national and international institutions. But in the US, the federal government's role has been limited while many states and localities are leading in the development of climate mitigation and adaptation policies. This kind of polycentric governance, where hundreds of subnational US governments and thousands of businesses are actively addressing climate change, is surprising. Social science research to date has largely focused on exploring the occurrence of climate mitigation or adaptation policies at just one level of government while ignoring the consequences of those policies: actual changes in environmental performance by Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emitters. This shortcoming stems, in part, from availability of data; there were no facility-level GHG emission trend data until 2007 when Congress created the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP). We use these data to create a 5-year panel dataset along with data collected from secondary sources, a web-based survey of a range of stakeholders, and interviews from six case studies to be analyzed with both quantitative and qualitative methods. This research relies upon a comprehensive combination of theory, multilevel statistical modeling, and qualitative comparative analysis to better understand a complex, longitudinal, and multilevel governance challenge.
The research team uses an institutional policy analysis framework to examine three aspects of the polycentric nature of climate governance in the US. First, we will describe the types of climate risk governance arrangements that have developed across and within the states. Second, we will examine when and where these institutional arrangements spur Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reductions at facilities. Third, we will analyze the institutional elements and interactions that are most effective in changing environmental performance. This collaborative project begins the difficult work of evaluating the extent to which different US climate risk governance arrangements affect GHG emission trends. The project results will inform evidence-based climate policy choices, governance decisions, and public understanding. To maximize the impact of this research, the team will assemble a diverse advisory board that includes business and environmental professionals, along with state and local government officials. Their advice on data collection, dissemination, and outreach will help ensure that the results from this project are robust and reach a range of stakeholders. Moreover, research results will be subjected to peer-review in scholarly conferences and journals. Research results will be made publically available through a website that includes: (1) a web and mobile phone map application of facility-level GHG emission reduction performance; (2) access to datasets, reports, conference papers, peer-reviewed publications, and (3) webinars to disseminate project findings broadly.
