Holding Back the Storm: Target Populations and State Climate Adaptation Planning in America

This paper investigates the landscape of state‐level adaptation planning in the United States. We answer three primary research questions: First, how are states planning for climate change? Second, who are states targeting for climate adaptation? Third, what tools are states using to motivate climate adaptation efforts? We develop and implement a coding scheme using Schneider and Ingram’s Social Construction Framework (SCF) to characterize variation in 2033 individual adaptation goals mentioned in all 14 American states with explicit adaptation plans. We use these data to understand the types of tools used to motivate different actors (governmental, private, nonprofit) to adapt to climate change. We find that the most frequent target of state adaptation planning is the state itself, which provides an opportunity to extend the SCF to a target group often not mentioned in public policy. Specifically, we find that states target themselves with mandates or tools designed to acquire information. Other stakeholders in adaptation are more likely to be the targets of capacity building tools. Private actors are the only population more likely to be targeted by incentives. The project expands the Social Construction Framework to include targets and tools of planning efforts. Practically, our article offers a methodology by which to compare the vastly heterogeneous efforts to adapt to climate change at the subnational level.     

Responses to the Clean Power Plan: Factors Influencing State Decision‐Making

In 2015, President Obama introduced the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a federal plan aimed at reducing the production of carbon pollution from power plants. In response, some used legal action to try and stop the plan, while others supported the plan and proceeded with plans for its implementation. This research investigates responses taken by state government in terms of legal remedies and planning for implementation, and what explains those responses. Findings suggest that partisanship plays a key role. Specifically, the partisanship of the attorney general is correlated with the legal response, and the governor with implementation planning. Coals, and perhaps renewables, also seem to play a role, even controlling for partisanship. There is only weak evidence for the effect of policy experience and none for the estimated cost of the policy. The article concludes by discussing the implications of these results for the future of climate policy in the United States.     

Measuring Environmental and Economic Opinions about Hydraulic Fracturing: A Survey of Landowners in Active or Planned Drilling Units

We investigate how Eastern Ohio landowners affected by the recent boom in high‐volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) view the industry and the factors that affect their attitudes. Our unique sample almost exclusively contains individuals whose land is under lease for and/or experiencing HVHF. Nation‐ and state‐wide surveys that investigate HVHF attitudes tend to find nearly even splits between opposed and supportive respondents, whose views are strongly influenced by political partisanship. These trends largely do not manifest among Eastern Ohio landowners, for whom personal experiences with HVHF crucially influence attitudes. Most respondents support HVHF and say it has benefited their community economically. Political partisanship does not significantly impact HVHF views. Contrary to arguments in the literature that economic considerations drive variation in support for HVHF, landowners’ support for the industry also appears influenced by perceptions of its environmental and infrastructure impacts. Environmental concerns appear to more powerfully shape attitudes than economic benefits.     

Agriculture in Shifting Climates: The Configuration and Ripeness of Problem Understandings in Uganda and Senegal

The international community has advocated the adoption of climate‐smart agriculture (CSA) as lower‐income countries deal with the negative consequences of climate change. Scaling up such policies, practices, and programs successfully will require support from a variety of local stakeholders. Such support requires alignment between CSA solutions and the problem understandings of stakeholders. However, problem understandings can differ across individuals, stakeholder groups, and geographic areas. Consequently, we examine understandings of climate problems and socioeconomic and infrastructure problems related to agriculture among different stakeholder groups in Uganda and Senegal. We operationalized and measured these problem understandings following the detailed guidance of the political will and public will approach for analyzing social change. Semistructured interviews elicited stakeholder‐generated lists of problems for each group. Limited quantification of problem understandings and their relative importance or “ripeness” demonstrates how contexts might shape opportunities for CSA.     

Organized elite power and clean energy: A study of negative policy experimentations with renewable portfolio standards

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) is one of the most widely adopted clean energy policies in the U.S. However, organized elite power groups, backed by ample political and economic resources, have been known to lead RPS termination efforts. In the context of state renewable energy politics, organized elite power includes legislators affiliated with American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and anti-renewable energy business groups. Focusing on the roles of organized elite power, this study investigates the drivers of the formulation of RPS rollback (goal freeze) and termination bills, which we refer to collectively as negative policy experimentations. We find that RPS termination attempts are explained by the presence of ALEC legislators and anti-renewable energy business groups, whereas RPS goal freeze bills are better explained by conditions of policy operations. This study contributes to the policy process theory by providing critical insights into the post adoption decisions, including policy termination and rollback legislations, with a focus on the role of organized elite power.     

Überprüfung der Höhe des Finanzierungsbeitrags nach § 69 WWFSG 1989 – Rechtsweg

Lautet der Wortlaut des verfahrenseinleitenden Antrags auf überprüfung, in welchem Ausma? durch die Mietzinsvereinbarung sowie die Einforderung des Finanzierungsbeitrags das gesetzlich zul?ssige Zinsausma? überschritten worden sei, erlaubt diese Antragsformulierung den Schluss, die ASt begehre (zumindest auch) eine überprüfung der Mietzinsbildung, wie sie im IV. Hauptstück des WWFSG 1989 geregelt und (nur) in diesem Umfang gem § 67 WWFSG 1989 in das au?erstreitige Verfahren verwiesen ist. Für die isolierte Prüfung der richtigen Berechnung der (absoluten Gesamt-)H?he des vertraglich vereinbarten Finanzierungsbeitrags (nach Nutzfl?che oder Nutzwert) enth?lt § 67 WWFSG 1989 aber keine Verweisung in das au?erstreitige Verfahren.     

Zu den Voraussetzungen des Eintrittsrechts des homosexuellen Lebensgefährten und zum dringenden Wohnbedürfnis wegen nicht ausreichender Wohnmöglichkeit

Ein dringendes Wohnbedürfnis des Eintrittswerbers liegt vor, wenn er über ein 30 qm gro?es Mietobjekt in schlechtem Ausstattungs- und Erhaltungszustand verfügt, das zu Wohnzwecken nicht geeignet ist, weil es als Lager- und Abstellobjekt va auch für berufliche Zwecke des Eintrittswerbers benützt und ben?tigt wird. Eine MRK-konforme Auslegung des § 14 Abs 3 zweiter Satz MRG gebietet die Bejahung eines Eintrittsrechts auch für gleichgeschlechtliche Lebenspartnerschaften, dies bei Vorliegen aller sonstigen Voraussetzungen. Eine Lebensgemeinschaft iS eines ehe?hnlichen Verh?ltnisses zwischen gleichgeschlechtlichen Personen hat über eine blo?e Wohn- und Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft, eine enge Freundschaft, ein Pflege- und Sekret?rsverh?ltnis oder ein Vater-Sohn-Verh?ltnis hinauszugehen und eine gewisse k?rperlich-erotische Anziehung zu beinhalten.     

High-quality Planning for Economic Development in China's 14th Five-Year Plan under the Strategic Orientation of Modernization

High-quality planning for the 14th Five-Year Plan has a bearing on China's future modernization and medium and long-term development. The key themes of the 14th Five-Year Plan oriented to the modernization strategy should take realizing the people's satisfaction of their needs for a better life as the strategic goal; the establishment of a modern economic system as the core content; the supply-side structural reform as the main line; the cultivation of new driving forces for economic development as the cheif measure; and a high standard market economy as the institutional guarantee. The key areas of the 14th Five-Year Plan are the modernization of the industrial sector, modernization of the innovation sector, integration of industrialization and informalization, and modernization of regional development. The 14th Five-Year Plan should take high quality development as its policy orientation; and make greater strides in the high quality development of the macro-economy, meso-economy, micro-economy; the opening up to the outside world; the modernization of industrial chains and modernization of infrastructure during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.     

Autonomous Local Climate Change Policy: An Analysis of the Effect of Intergovernmental Relations Among Subnational Governments

Local governments have emerged as important players in climate change governance, both at home and on the international stage. Likewise, action by states and provinces has been increasingly highlighted, particularly as national actors have moved slowly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But to what extent do local governments act independently from state and provincial governments in the area of climate change mitigation? Using an explicit process tracing approach, the article tests two hypotheses regarding the influence of upper level subnational governments on local policy. In Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a city that is a climate change leader, provincial government intervention cannot explain the results of climate change mitigation policy making. This suggests that local governments can exercise an important degree of autonomy over climate change policy, but also implies that where municipalities are less independently committed to climate action, active upper level government intervention will likely be needed.