Sometimes, doing things close to home may be more feasible than doing them on a grand scale, even if they cost a bit more.
Sometimes, doing things close to home may be more feasible than doing them on a grand scale, even if they cost a bit more. This may be the case for controlling carbon emissions, according to a team of researchers who looked at state-led efforts and found them only slightly more expensive than federally mandated ones.
Reporting in a recent issue of Nature Climate Change, the researchers note that "the nationwide cost from heterogeneous subnational policies is only one-tenth higher than nationally uniform policies."
They note however, that this relies on two technologies, low-carbon electricity and advanced biofuels for which interstate trade helps to even the effects of different states having different costs of mitigation.
"One of the most exciting things is that climate action is going local," said Wei Peng, assistant professor of international affairs and civil and environmental engineering, Penn State. "More subnational actors are engaging in climate action."
Read more at Penn State
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