Yet, at the same time, questions persist about the efficacy of city pledges. At their best, the plans have exemplified the hope that “bottom-up” actions could add up to a powerful approach to climate mitigation, especially given rollbacks in federal policy under the Trump administration including the government’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. These local plans - which entail a GHG emission inventory and the establishment of reduction targets, reduction strategies, and monitoring efforts - have been celebrated as an important counterpoint to federal drift. Since 1991, over 600 local governments in the United States have developed CAPs that include GHG inventories and reduction targets. One place to start such an assessment is to look at the nation’s many Climate Action Plans (CAPs). That requires looking far beyond the gridlock of Washington to the nation’s interior - especially to the local level. Given that, it seems important to take the pulse of what the country has been actually saying and doing on climate change, especially through its local commitments to reduce emissions. Plausibly, the places that were highly-committed to action on climate before the pandemic will remain committed, while places that were reluctant to put much priority in climate earlier will be even more reluctant in the midst of economic uncertainty and uncertain priorities. 1 Those massive current declines are likely temporary, but they raise important questions about the trajectory of emissions as the economic crisis abates and economic activity resumes. The COVID-19 crisis has precipitated the largest decline of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on record.
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