Emissions reduction policy

J. Planning Educ. Res. http://doi.org/cf5p (2017)

Despite the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, many large metropolitan regions in the US have expressed interest in continuing to pursue residential energy conservation and compact growth programmes that reduce CO₂ emissions.

Credit: Westend61/Getty

To better understand the efficacy and feasibility of programmes targeting residential and transportation sectors, John Landis at the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues derive CO₂ emissions projections for 2030 for 11 US metropolitan areas under a series of policy scenarios; they vary the degree to which they impose residential energy conservation standards, promote compact growth, and encourage less automobile use. The programmes are further characterized in terms of their effectiveness and likelihood of generating opposition.

They show that residential energy conservation mandates across new and existing homes could reduce residential CO₂ emissions in 2030 by 30%. This approach is also seen as being cost-effective, scalable and generally resistant to pushback. Conversely, compact growth programs could reduce CO₂ emissions from cars by as much as 25%, but the reduction falls into the 0–7% range if not accompanied by aggressive efforts to reduce automobile use. These programmes have the potential to incur considerable political pushback.