Local Climate Action Planning – The Land Use Perspective

Abstract

For more than thirty years, municipalities across the United States have created Climate Action Plans (CAPs) to address the consequences of climate change within their communities. Scholars have scrutinized the efficacy of local CAPs since their inception, alleging that many hold nothing more than abstract and visionary statements. Indeed, early CAPs often provided detailed plans but lacked corresponding accountability or metrics for bringing those plans to fruition. However, more recent CAPs have sought to ground their aspirations in land use law by integrating the CAPs into comprehensive plans, amending zoning codes to meet urban agriculture goals, and even providing expedited zoning procedures for CAP-compliant developers.