Building Climate Policy in the States

Abstract

Large-scale carbon emissions reductions in the United States likely require national-level policy, but political and institutional constraints restrict the scope of policy that can be enacted in Washington. State governments, on the other hand, have demonstrated a remarkable willingness to enact climate policies, despite the global nature of the problem. Although it is limited in directly reducing carbon emissions, state policy has the potential to make the terrain of U.S. climate politics more fertile for future policy. I discuss mechanisms by which climate policies enacted at the state level can influence climate politics across the states and at the national level. Finally, I make policy and political strategy recommendations that take these multilevel policy feedback dynamics into account.