Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Moving The Climate Change Debate From Models To Proposed Legislation: Lessons From State Experience, John C. Dernbach

John C. Dernbach

This Article assesses the relationship between state climate change mitigation measures and potential national climate change legislation. It describes and evaluates eleven different legal and policy tools being employed by states. These are: customer choice of electricity providers, environmental labeling requirements for electricity sources, building codes requiring energy efficiency, demand-side management, system benefit charges, cap-and-trade programs, tax credits, net metering, planning and siting preferences for renewable energy facilities, CO2 limits for new power plants, and renewable energy portfolio standards. Two broad conclusions emerge from this analysis. First, these tools have considerable potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They achieve reductions …