Terry Tamminen in collaboration with Seventh Generation Advisors and the New America Foundation has created an online tool to allow state-by-state tracking of hundreds of carbon and energy saving measures now being implemented across the country by U.S. States.
The State Climate Policy Tracker takes the form of a single spreadsheet with one tab devoted to each state. A seven column matrix captures the climate actions taking place across six economic sectors, and reports on the progress of each measure, its cost or cost-saving potential, and the estimated reduction in carbon emissions expected on an annual basis.
The Policy Tracker was compiled from publicly available information. Since 2006, 32 U.S. states have created climate action blueprints to guide greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions efforts. These blueprints, often guided by a reduction target, contain on average 50 policy recommendations, and states have already started to implement many of them. The Policy Tracker provides a snapshot of where things stand, state-by-state.
Much of the state climate action planning was facilitated by the Center for Climate Strategies, a non-profit expert group that works with state governments across party lines to build consensus among stakeholders around a blueprint for climate action. The large majority of measures in these state plans were approved unanimously, and so the Policy Tracker also provides a snapshot of an effective collection measures that have already surmounted political hurdles.
The measures in the Tracker are organized according to the economic sectors used by states in their planning:
- Energy Efficiency and Conservation (Residential, Commercial, Industrial)
- Clean and Renewable Energy, Energy Supply
- Transportation and Land Use
- Agriculture, Forestry and Waste Management
- Water
- Education
- Cross-Cutting issues (i.e. Inventories, Cap and Trade)
Until the United States approves a federal climate legislation, the state climate policies being followed by the Policy Tracker essentially add up to a de facto federal policy. The tracking tool includes information both on states that have completed plans and those that are in process of completing plans. Each page includes contact and website information.
The State Climate Policy Tracker is a working document, and will be updated periodically. As a complement, the Center for Climate Strategies also provides detailed information on the full range of policy actions undertaken by US states on its website.
