How climate policy commitments influence energy systems and the economy of US States

28 Pages Posted: 4 Aug 2022 Last revised: 26 Jul 2023

See all articles by Parrish Bergquist

Parrish Bergquist

Georgetown University - McCourt School of Public Policy; Yale University; University of Pennsylvania

Christopher Warshaw

George Washington University - Department of Political Science

Date Written: July 25, 2023

Abstract

In the United States, state governments have been the locus of action for addressing climate change. However, the lack of a holistic measure of state climate policy has prevented a comprehensive assessment of state policies’ effectiveness. Here, we aggregate information from 25 individual policies to develop a holistic index of state climate policies from 2000-2020. The climate policy index highlights variation between states which is difficult to assess in single policy studies. Next, we examine the environmental and economic consequences of state climate policy. A standard-deviation increase in climate policy is associated with a 5% reduction in per-capita electricity-sector CO2 emissions and a 2% reduction in economy-wide CO2 emissions per capita. We do not find evidence that more stringent climate policy harms states’ economies. Our results make clear the benefits of state climate policy, while showing that current state efforts are insufficient to meet the US goal under the Paris Climate Accord.

Suggested Citation

Bergquist, Parrish and Warshaw, Chris, How climate policy commitments influence energy systems and the economy of US States (July 25, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4174547 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4174547

Parrish Bergquist (Contact Author)

Georgetown University - McCourt School of Public Policy ( email )

Old North, Suite 100
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Washington, DC 20057
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Yale University ( email )

493 College St
New Haven, CT CT 06520
United States

University of Pennsylvania ( email )

Philiadelphia, PA
United States

Chris Warshaw

George Washington University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Washington, DC 20052
United States

HOME PAGE: chriswarshaw.com

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