Most of the focus of US climate policy to date has been at the federal level—for example, US EPA regulations and the Inflation Reduction Act.
And most of the rest has been with states, in particular, the work of California and other section 177 states to develop statewide climate laws, regulations, and investments.
An area of climate policy in the US that’s gotten less attention is that of local governments. Yet local governments, which represent the homes of the vast majority of people and sources of emissions, have uniquely influential power.
Those powers include:
#1. Control over land use that governs the potential for efficient transportation choices and compact development;
#2. Ability to readily raise funding for communities for the broad public interest;
#3. Everyday communications with the public on matters of well-being and planning for the future;
#4. Hosting of public elections that provide a means to educate the public about key issues;
#5. Jurisdiction over communities that represent the scale of adaptation and mitigation projects that can be influential; and
#6. Relative physical accessibility as a public body to people.
#7. Standing to influence state governments.
#8. A natural center of organizing for national advocacy and movement-building.
Moreworks 