Author: Adam Sebastian Millard-Ball

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

Climate change policy is typically seen as the prerogative of nation states. However, specific mitigation measures -- building codes to promote energy efficiency; transportation and land-use planning to combat urban sprawl; and recycling programs to reduce methane emissions from landfill, to name just a few -- often fall within the purview of local government. This dissertation explores two approaches that may encourage cities to increase their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help overcome the collective action problem. First, I use the transportation sector as a case study to examine the potential of project- and sectoral-level carbon offsets to provide fiscal incentives for emission reductions. Second, I analyze the extent to which local climate action plans have a causal impact on cities' climate policy efforts. While there is little evidence to suggest that either approach has affected local government decision making - methodological challenges have virtually precluded the use of offsets for transportation, and it is environmental preferences, not city climate action plans, that explain variation in local emission reduction efforts - my results have two wider implications. They question the reality of emission reductions claimed under carbon offset programs in sectors beyond transportation, due to the difficulties in quantifying counterfactual emissions in the absence of the offset project. My results also call for caution when making casual claims for other types of urban plans, not just climate action plans. In the context of cities and climate change, I suggest that policymakers should focus more directly on changing the incentive structures faced by local government, for example through implementing mandates and fiscal incentives for cities to reduce their climate impacts.