Study: Combination of state, local and corporate programs most effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Combinations of state, local and private-sector efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are more effective in their goal than any of the three on their own, according to research published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science.

Researchers analyzed emissions disclosures to CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, for more than 1,300 buildings owned by 184 companies across 49 states, and found that the single most productive factor in influencing private-sector decarbonization is state policy incentives. City or local initiatives alone result in the third-greatest reduction of emissions, followed by corporate emissions alone. 

The researchers note that the timespan of the research is entirely from before the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), suggesting that the opportunities are now even greater with proper state-local-corporate cooperation. 

“Our results lend support for existing projections arguing that IRA provisions, if fully leveraged by businesses, cities and states collectively, have the potential to reduce national [greenhouse gas] emissions by 52% from 2005 levels by 2030,” the study states.

“Companies are putting are spending millions every year on the decarbonization measures, upgrades, et cetera, and you better believe they're going to take any monetary carrot, so to speak, to reduce the costs of that,” said study co-author Ben Leffel, a professor of public at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

“That is not to say that we don't need the stick, of course we need regulation. We absolutely need regulation,” he added. “[But] we know sometimes regulations… create the policy environment in which incentives can be effective.”

Leffel added that the findings also indicate that in a scenario where former President Trump wins back the presidency this year, many of these state and local policies are likely to remain in place even though federal policies are likely to be unwound. 

“If the federal apparatus of support is gone for climate mitigation, particularly for the private sector, states are going to be left on their own. But now they know they can use IRA provisions or even their own budgets to continue to accelerate private sector decarbonization,” he said.