The United States is currently the second largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world. Structural discrimination has led low-income populations and people of color to disproportionately experience a range of climate change-related hazards in both the United States and around the world, including air and water pollution, loss of livelihoods, and increased risk of harm from extreme weather events. Reducing US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is therefore essential to addressing the dual global challenges of poverty and climate change.
Currently, US state and local governments are leveraging federal resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to roll out extensive climate action plans. In the coming years, programs will be enacted across the country to promote decarbonization in areas ranging from transportation and land use, to building and facilities energy, to forests and agriculture. However, more research is needed to understand the impacts of policies and programs seeking to reduce emissions.
We will identify state and regional climate leaders to serve as champions for building and using evidence to inform policy. We are designing a series of tailored workshops and trainings to bolster the ability of climate leaders to generate and use evidence to inform decision-making. Interested in learning more? Sign up to receive updates on upcoming opportunities.
We have cultivated a team of more than 25 academic researchers across the country who are interested in using randomized evaluation to test the impact of decarbonization programs and policies. The working group is documenting a research agenda that prioritizes policy relevant areas for experimental research, amplifying the agenda through publications and J-PAL events, and engaging in matchmaking and research partnerships with state and local jurisdictions. Are you a researcher who is interested in learning more? Please contact us at: [email protected].
Through individual meetings and virtual and in-person events, we bring together researchers and state and local government agency staff to identify priority research areas of interest and cultivate viable researcher-practitioner partnerships to launch priority evaluations on decarbonization strategies and programs.
We support climate-focused research proposals through our State and Local Innovation Initiative and Social Policy Research Initiative RFPs, offered twice per year to our network of academic researchers. Researchers can also apply for Research Management Support (RMS), short-term, customized, and expert support to help design and launch a randomized evaluation.
We summarize and synthesize research findings to inform the development of policies and practices that can help scale up equitable, high impact policy solutions.
Leadership
Scientific Advisor - Peter Christensen, University of California, Santa Cruz
J-PAL Staff
Erin Graeber - Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (EECC) Sector Lead
Maggie Dennis - Senior Policy Associate
Laura Romero Ayala - Senior Policy Associate
