Doctoral Dissertation Research: From Nations to Networks: Global Climate Change and Local Climate Governance in the U.S.

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Creating and implementing effective climate change regulation is the subject of intense debate throughout the United States. Traditionally, much of the political focus has been upon the creation of a national climate program in the U.S., along with the possibility of coordinating such efforts with an international climate change agreement. During the past several years, however, local and regional governments have begun implementing climate change programs that have not been created or mandated by the federal government. Yet, little is known about these sub-national programs or their potential political and ecological effects. As a result, this research examines the emergence of sub-national, municipally-based climate change programs in the U.S., and more specifically, the creation and implementation of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (MCPA). In the time since it was endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in June 2005, more than 750 U.S. cities whose combined populations include more than 75 million U.S. citizens, have signed on to the MCPA. Participating MCPA communities pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by implementing land use policies that reduce sprawl, passing city ordinances to promote energy efficiency, and undertaking environmental restoration projects. Using an in-depth case study involving interviews, focus groups, and observation in Seattle, Washington and a multi-city survey of all participating MCPA cities, this research examines: 1) how and why local climate programs have emerged in the U.S. and with what implications for global climate governance; 2) how and why municipal systems of climate governance engage environmental issues that are often described as more global in their extent; and 3) how the networks of people and information involved in the development and spread of the MCPA are created and maintained. Another important outcome of this research will include a more in-depth analysis of how cities are addressing the causes of climate change and the potential impacts that may be felt in their communities. The results of this doctoral dissertation research will deepen current understandings of the role that local and regional governments play in climate governance, as well as the ways that people come to understand the relationships between local and global scales of physical systems and political processes. Changing geographies of climate governance, including the emergence of programs like the MCPA, have raised significant social, political, and ecological questions regarding the most effective political scale at which global climate change can and should be addressed. This project will contribute to these policy debates through the writing of academic and policy papers, as well as participation in professional conferences of organizations involved in climate governance. These outreach efforts will incorporate individuals and organizations both inside and outside of academia to facilitate further collaboration between public policy institutions and scientific research centers through wide dissemination of project results.