Doctoral Dissertation Research: From Nations to Networks: Global Climate Change and Local Climate Governance in the U.S.

博士论文研究：从国家到网络：全球气候变化与美国地方气候治理

• 批准号: 0802739
• 负责人: Paul Robbins
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-05-15 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0802739&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Nations; Networks

Creating and implementing effective climate change regulation is the subject of intense debate throughout the United States. Traditionally, much of the political focus has been upon the creation of a national climate program in the U.S., along with the possibility of coordinating such efforts with an international climate change agreement. During the past several years, however, local and regional governments have begun implementing climate change programs that have not been created or mandated by the federal government. Yet, little is known about these sub-national programs or their potential political and ecological effects. As a result, this research examines the emergence of sub-national, municipally-based climate change programs in the U.S., and more specifically, the creation and implementation of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (MCPA). In the time since it was endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in June 2005, more than 750 U.S. cities whose combined populations include more than 75 million U.S. citizens, have signed on to the MCPA. Participating MCPA communities pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by implementing land use policies that reduce sprawl, passing city ordinances to promote energy efficiency, and undertaking environmental restoration projects. Using an in-depth case study involving interviews, focus groups, and observation in Seattle, Washington and a multi-city survey of all participating MCPA cities, this research examines: 1) how and why local climate programs have emerged in the U.S. and with what implications for global climate governance; 2) how and why municipal systems of climate governance engage environmental issues that are often described as more global in their extent; and 3) how the networks of people and information involved in the development and spread of the MCPA are created and maintained. Another important outcome of this research will include a more in-depth analysis of how cities are addressing the causes of climate change and the potential impacts that may be felt in their communities. The results of this doctoral dissertation research will deepen current understandings of the role that local and regional governments play in climate governance, as well as the ways that people come to understand the relationships between local and global scales of physical systems and political processes. Changing geographies of climate governance, including the emergence of programs like the MCPA, have raised significant social, political, and ecological questions regarding the most effective political scale at which global climate change can and should be addressed. This project will contribute to these policy debates through the writing of academic and policy papers, as well as participation in professional conferences of organizations involved in climate governance. These outreach efforts will incorporate individuals and organizations both inside and outside of academia to facilitate further collaboration between public policy institutions and scientific research centers through wide dissemination of project results.

在美国，创建和实施有效的气候变化监管是激烈辩论的主题。 传统上，许多政治重点都放在美国的国家气候计划上，以及与国际气候变化协议协调这样的努力的可能性。 但是，在过去的几年中，地方和地区政府已经开始实施联邦政府未创建或强制的气候变化计划。 然而，对于这些次国家计划或它们的潜在政治和生态影响知之甚少。 结果，这项研究研究了美国市长气候保护协议（MCPA）的创建和实施，尤其是美国基于市政的气候变化计划的出现。 自2005年6月美国市长会议认可以来，有750多个美国城市的总人口包括超过7500万美国公民，已签署了MCPA。参与MCPA社区承诺通过实施减少蔓延的土地使用政策，通过城市法令来促进能源效率并进行环境修复项目，以减少其温室气体排放。 该研究使用涉及西雅图，华盛顿的访谈，焦点小组和观察的深入案例研究，以及对所有参与的MCPA城市的多城市调查，该研究研究：1）美国如何以及为何在美国出现当地气候计划以及对全球气候治理的影响； 2）如何以及为什么气候治理系统会涉及环境问题，而环境问题通常被描述为在其程度上更具全球性； 3）如何创建和维护参与MCPA发展和传播的人员网络和信息。 这项研究的另一个重要结果将包括对城市如何解决气候变化的原因以及可能在其社区中感受到的潜在影响的更深入的分析。这项博士学位论文研究的结果将加深对地方和区域政府在气候治理中扮演的作用的理解，以及人们了解物理系统和政治过程的地方和全球范围之间关系的方式。 不断变化的气候治理地理位置，包括诸如MCPA之类的计划的出现，已经提出了有关全球气候变化可以并且应该解决的最有效的政治规模的重大社会，政治和生态问题。 该项目将通过撰写学术和政策论文以及参与参与气候治理的组织的专业会议来为这些政策辩论做出贡献。 这些宣传工作将纳入学术界内外的个人和组织，以通过广泛传播项目结果来促进公共政策机构和科学研究中心之间的进一步合作。