Rachel M. Krause

POLICY INNOVATION, INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS, AND THE ADOPTION OF CLIMATE PROTECTION INITIATIVES BY U.S. CITIES

ABSTRACT: In the absence of federal requirements, how do state- and municipal-level characteristics impact the probability of local policy innovation? This article provides insight by examining the adoption of sub-national climate change mitigation initiatives in the United States. Drawing from literature on policy innovation, a multilevel model is developed to examine the factors influencing over 900 U.S. cities to eschew free-rider tendencies and formally commit to greenhouse gas reduction. Multilevel analysis recognizes the nested structure of cities within states and accounts for the shared economic, political, and policy environments experienced by cities within the same state. The level of initiative state governments have taken toward climate protection varies considerably, and the influence of different state policies on related local decisions is empirically examined. Results are consistent with hypotheses derived from the innovation literature and suggest local-level characteristics are the dominant drivers of cities’ decisions to commit to climate protection.

Symbolic or Substantive Policy? Measuring the Extent of Local Commitment to Climate Protection

Over 1000 US municipalities have formally committed to reduce their local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through participation in one of several climate-protection networks. This has attracted the attention of researchers interested in theories of free riding and local political decision making who question why municipalities become engaged in this global effort. However, whereas joining a climate-protection network or adopting an emissions-reduction goal are relatively low-cost acts, the implementation of such policies entails higher costs. This raises legitimate questions about the extent and type of follow-through made on municipal climate-protection commitments. With this paper I begin to fill in the data gap around municipal climate-protection initiatives and construct an index that quantifies the GHG-reduction policies implemented by local governments. Data informing the index are collected on municipalities in the US state of Indiana and are used to test theories of local political decision making. Findings point to the important role that policy entrepreneurs play in advancing local climate protection as well as to the potential inadequacy of membership in climate-protection organizations as an indicator of increased implementation of GHG-reducing activities.

Political Decision-making and the Local Provision of Public Goods: The Case of Municipal Climate Protection in the US

The municipal political decision-making dynamic has typically been studied in regard to the provision of locally public goods and services whose benefits, while diffuse, are tied to a particular geography. This research extends current knowledge by empirically examining the local production of a global public good: climate protection. It utilises an original nation-wide dataset on the greenhouse gas-reducing activities that have been implemented by city governments in the US. These data enable the development of a more comprehensive measure of local climate protection than has been used in previous quantitative research. Several theories of local political decision-making are tested to determine the factors that influence the extent of municipal involvement in climate-protecting activities. Results suggest that local governments’ fiscal and human capacities are key determinants of involvement.

An assessment of the greenhouse gas reducing activities being implemented in US cities

Local climate protection initiatives are receiving increased attention and support. However, most of the current understanding about their content, motivation, and impact is based on qualitative studies, whose findings cannot be generalised, or quantitative studies, which consider superficial measures of policy adoption. There is a lack of information about the type and extent of greenhouse gas (GHG)-reducing actions that “typical” cities have implemented, whether or not they are explicitly framed as part of a broader climate protection strategy. In an effort to address this gap, this paper examines original data collected from a nation-wide sample of US cities on their implementation of a comprehensive list of GHG-mitigating activities. An assessment of the data reveals considerable variation in the frequency with which the different activities are implemented, particularly when considered across policy instrument type and target population. Further analysis suggests that cities utilise three broad “types” of climate protection strategies, based on the number and nature of the relevant actions that they have implemented.

The Integrated City Sustainability Database

This article describes the construction of the Integrated City Sustainability Database (ICSD) that is the first truly comprehensive data set of U.S. municipal government sustainability programs and policies. Taking advantage of a unique opportunity to combine seven independent data collection efforts, it will provide a valuable resource for scholars in multiple disciplines investigating local environmental and energy sustainability. It also adds missing elements to the research infrastructure for the study of local government and urban policy. This nationwide database will provide a comprehensive assessment of municipal sustainability programs that can contribute to a more rigorous and theoretically informed understanding of city government and governance.

Back-pedaling or continuing quietly? Assessing the impact of ICLEI membership termination on cities’ sustainability actions

ABSTRACT Over the past decade, cities have emerged as leaders in sustainability and climate protection in the United States. ICLEI, a voluntary network of local governments, played an important role driving this trend. After years of steady growth, ICLEI became a target of political opposition and its membership dropped significantly from 2010 to 2012. This begs the question of whether cities’ termination of their ICLEI affiliation diminishes their implementation of sustainability actions. Two surveys administered in 2010 and 2014 provide data on cities’ implementation of an array of sustainability actions. Using a difference-in-differences (DiD) method, the impact of ICLEI termination on local governments’ administrative and policy commitments to sustainability is assessed. The results suggest that ending ICLEI membership does not significantly impact local sustainability actions, and also indicate that the durability of policy actions may be only loosely linked to the policies that justify them.

Making meaningful commitments: Accounting for variation in cities’ investments of staff and fiscal resources to sustainability:

Environmental sustainability is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. A number of explanations have been advanced for why some local governments make strong commitments to sustainability while others do not. Most of the extant empirical research, however, has relied on models that employ only one or just a few of these explanations. As a result, empirical analyses do not encompass a comprehensive set of variables that account for alternative explanations. This study begins to fill this lacuna by specifying an empirical model that examines six explanations for local commitment towards sustainability: local sustainability priorities, regional governance, climate protection networks, interest group support, local fiscal capacity, and characteristics of the local governing institution. Moreover, we use the designation of human and financial resources specifically for sustainability to operationalise commitment. This is a more substantive measure than has been used in previous studies. We accomplish this by utilising data from the Integrated City Sustainability Database. Our results indicate that local priorities, participation in regional governance, and membership in climate protection networks influence the likelihood of cities’ devotion of resources to sustainability. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.

Early public impressions of terrestrial carbon capture and storage in a coal-intensive state.

While carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered to be critical to achieving long-term climate-protection goals, public concerns about the CCS practice could pose significant obstacles to its deployment. This study reports findings from the first state-wide survey of public perceptions of CCS in a coal-intensive state, with an analysis of which factors predict early attitudes toward CCS. Nearly three-quarters of an Indiana sample (N = 1001) agree that storing carbon underground is a good approach to protecting the environment, despite 80% of the sample being unaware of CCS prior to participation in the two-wave survey. The majority of respondents do not hold strong opinions about CCS technology. Multivariate analyses indicate that support for CCS is predicted by a belief that humankind contributes to climate change, a preference for increased use of renewable energy, and egalitarian and individualistic worldviews, while opposition to CCS is predicted by self-identified political conservatism and by selective attitudes regarding energy and climate change. Knowledge about early impressions of CCS can help inform near-term technology decisions at state regulatory agencies, utilities, and pipeline companies, but follow-up surveys are necessary to assess how public sentiments evolve in response to image-building efforts with different positions on coal and CCS.

Assessing demand by urban consumers for plug-in electric vehicles under future cost and technological scenarios

ABSTRACT Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are not currently being sold in the United States at rates sufficient to meet the stated goals of vehicle manufacturers or the federal government. Although touted as able to help mitigate a range of public problems—including climate change, oil insecurity, and urban air pollution—PEVs face numerous barriers to commercialization. Research and development activities are under way that may overcome some of the key disadvantages of the current generation of PEVs. This analysis employs a survey-based discrete-choice exercise with 961 potential new vehicle purchasers in large US cities to assess how consumer demand might change with various breakthroughs in PEV technology. Respondents are presented with different price and technology scenarios and are asked to choose which of four powertrains they are most likely to purchase: a gasoline vehicle, a conventional hybrid, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), or a battery electric vehicle (BEV). A multinomial logit is used to assess the relative impact that improvements in different attributes have on demand for each vehicle powertrain. When vehicles were presented with their current attributes, the conventional hybrid is the favored option. Under the breakthrough technology scenario that brings all vehicle powertrains into parity with gasoline vehicles along dimensions of cost, driving range, and recharging times, 44% of respondents state intent to purchase a BEV, which makes it the most frequently selected option. Public policy implications are discussed.

The Impact of Auditory and Visual Experience with Wind Turbines on Support for Wind Production and Proximity-Based Opposition

ABSTRACT Community acceptance is a key factor contributing to the outcome of wind power deployment efforts. This study considers the views of an experientially informed subset of the public: individuals living in select Washington and California counties that have active wind farms. We divide respondents into two groups based on a qualitative measure of their proximity—those who can see or hear turbines from their homes and those who cannot—and empirically examine the effect that exposure has on the support expressed for wind farms at different proposed locations. We find that negative perceptions of aesthetics and fear of property value reductions are major determinants of opposition. However, all else equal, those currently living near turbines are more sympathetic toward them, feeling that turbines are more attractive and less disturbing than those who live farther away. We propose four possible explanations for this phenomenon: familiarity, rationalization, desensitization, and economics.