State and Regional Efforts to Address a Global Environmental Issue: Climate Change Policies in California, New York, and the Northeast.

Pam Doughman, Ph.D. University of Illinois, Springfield, IL, pdoug2@uis.eduAllison M. Chatrchyan, Ph.D. Cornell University, Millbrook, NY, amc256@cornell.eduPaper presented at the 48th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, Chicago, Illinois. February 28 - 3 March 2007. http://www.isanet.org/chicago2007/, Panel: SC05.Abstract This paper argues that in the absence of mandatory federal action on climate change from the late 1990s, US states including CA, NY, Maine and others, and various regional climate change initiatives, took on a leading role in developing their own climate change policies, putting increasing pressure on the US government to address climate change at the federal level. The paper argues that federalism has played an essential role spurring state and regional leadership in the face of US inaction. Several cases of state climate policies, regional initiatives, and the interstate commerce in carbon are used to explore the conditions for sub-national actors to act as laggards or leaders in international environmental policy. The rejection of the Kyoto Protocol by President G.W. Bush was inconsistent with policy preferences at the state and local level in a number of states. In the absence of US federal support for reducing total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, voluntary and local measures arose to fill the unmet policy preferences. Regarding mandatory reductions, California and Northeastern states have taken the lead by setting caps on emissions and authorizing development of market-based mechanisms for meeting the caps. This paper argues that state leadership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has helped spur change in policy at the federal level, including five major bills currently being proposed in Congress that would address climate change. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]