Are individual states adopting policies to address climate change?
• Some U.S. states have been formulating climate change policy for more than a decade, although their efforts have expanded and intensified in the past few years. In some cases, states have attempted to address climate change explicitly while in others it has been an incidental benefit of other policies (e.g., energy policy). Reflective of the vast scope of activity that generates greenhouse gases, state policies have been enacted that reduce GHG emissions in such areas as renewable energy, air pollution control, agriculture and forestry, waste management, transportation, and energy development, among others. In almost all cases, there have been multiple drivers behind and multiple benefits from these state policies. In Texas, for example, the desire for energy independence, economic development, and air pollution control drove the state to promote renewable energy. Not all states have demonstrated interest in these initiatives and some legislatures have taken steps to prevent state ag
