Researcher(s):
Osamu Kumasaka
ENVS course(s): 400 Initiated: January 2016 Completed: Go to project site
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This thesis will explore how political barriers are being circumvented to create binding national carbon emission reduction targets in the United States, which is an unprecedented national-scale confrontation of carbon emissions and their effect on global climate change. What role will renewable energy play in the EPA Clean Power Plan? I will engage in econometric analysis of factors that have affected the ad hoc development of renewable energy policies in different American states. Do existing renewable energy measures at the state level actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What factors may have affected the creation and level of ambition of pro-renewable energy legislation in the past 25 years? These factors may determine renewable energy development in the future and our ability to contribute to United Nations climate change goals.