A geographic approach to facilitating local climate governance: from emissions inventories to mitigation planning

It is increasingly recognized that municipal and regional scale governments play a vital role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. While universities possess many resources that can facilitate such mitigation efforts, their potential contribution has been underexplored in academic literature. This article presents methods and results from a local-scale emissions inventory and mitigation planning process carried out in Pennsylvania’s Centre Region by Penn State researchers. The inventory used innovative methods to estimate vehicle emissions and generate alternative local emissions scenarios. The mitigation planning process drew upon local knowledge of residents – who were informed by the emissions inventory – to generate and prioritize mitigation options they viewed as appropriate for the region. The publicly vetted options were presented to the regional government as a planning tool. Rather than create a single greenhouse gas mitigation plan for the region, the governing body decided each municipality should create its own energy-efficiency action plan based on its particular abilities and needs. This case study shows that politicians ultimately determine local climate change policy, but universities can play a valuable role in facilitating the process that leads to that policy.