State Governance: Leadership on Climate Change

AGENDA FOR A SUSTAINABLE AMERICA 441, Environmental Law Institute, John C. Dernbach, ed., 2009

Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper No. 07-37

18 Pages Posted: 7 Jan 2008 Last revised: 16 Feb 2009

See all articles by Kirsten H. Engel

Kirsten H. Engel

University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law

Marc L. Miller

University of Arizona College of Law

Date Written: February 1, 2009

Abstract

This chapter explores the current status of sustainability initiatives at the level of state governments. States and localities may be the most plausible governmental entities for substantial on-going progress toward a more sustainable society due to their larger role in the many issues that contribute to a sustainable society. Nevertheless, we found that only a small minority of states have expressed an explicit commitment to statewide sustainability efforts by establishing a state "sustainability council" and that several of these states restrict the function of such councils to reducing the energy and environmental impacts of state government operations. The second part of the chapter looks at state, local and regional initiatives on climate change policy, perhaps the most interesting and fertile area of state leadership on sustainability-related issues. The chapter concludes with suggestions for ways that in which sustainability efforts may make more meaningful the "states as laboratory of democracy" metaphor.

Keywords: states, state government, sustainability, sustainability council, Brundtland Commission, climate change, state climate change initiatives, laboratory of democracy

JEL Classification: K32

Suggested Citation

Engel, Kirsten H. and Miller, Marc Louis, State Governance: Leadership on Climate Change (February 1, 2009). AGENDA FOR A SUSTAINABLE AMERICA 441, Environmental Law Institute, John C. Dernbach, ed., 2009, Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper No. 07-37, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1081314

Kirsten H. Engel (Contact Author)

University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 210176
Tucson, AZ 85721-0176
United States
520-621-5444 (Phone)

Marc Louis Miller

University of Arizona College of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 210176
Tucson, AZ 85721-0176
United States
520-621-1498 (Phone)

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