Building Better Policy: Evaluating Effectiveness and Equity in Climate Mitigation and Transportation Programs

Webinar Overview

J-PAL North America and Results for America hosted a conversation with an environmental economist and transportation and climate leaders from King County, WA on the role and promise of rigorous evaluation in informing effective, equitable climate mitigation and transportation strategies. 

US State and local governments are working to plan, introduce, and sustain equitable decarbonization and mobility interventions harnessing federal funding from multiple sources, including the IRA and BIL/IIJA. These programs are ambitious and varied—and in many cases, more research is needed to understand how these policies will contribute to emissions reductions and who does and doesn’t benefit from them. 

On this webinar, attendees: 

• Heard from two teams in King County on how they’re using rigorous evaluation to guide planning and action on climate and mobility priorities;

• Received an overview of the research landscape, open questions, and types of questions that rigorous evaluation is well-suited to address;

• Learned about the free resources, capacity-building, and programming that Results for America and J-PAL North America offer to support governments in harnessing rigorous evaluation to advance their work more quickly and effectively.

• Asked questions and discussed ideas with the transportation, climate policy, and research leaders on the webinar.

Interested in learn more about joining the growing network of state and local climate leaders who are building an evidence base on effective climate mitigation and transportation strategies? Please watch our webinar recording (see below) or contact Erin Graeber. 

Panelists

• Erin Graeber (Moderator) - Environment, Energy, and Climate Change (EECC) Sector Lead, J-PAL North America
• Louise Geraghty - Government Partnerships Lead, J-PAL North America
• Chelsea Powell - Associate Director, Local Practice, Results for America
• Peter Christensen - Associate Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Carrie Cihak - Evidence and Impact Officer, King County, WA
• Terry Sullivan - Climate and Energy Program Manager, King County, WA 
• Ryan Dooley - Transportation Planner, King County, WA 
• Rachel Brown - Research Associate, King County Metro, WA
   

Webinar recording