Browsing by Author "Mulderrig, Conor"

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    Climate Change Is Here, but Who Is Paying for It?
    (2020-06-24) Mulderrig, Conor; Profeta, Timothy; Thompson, Elizabeth
    In an era of increased political polarization and decreased confidence in national institutions, many bold initiatives have stalled or met an untimely end. This abdication of federal responsibility is no more evident than the ongoing response to COVID-19. Strategic response to the pandemic has largely shifted from the White House to governors’ mansions. A renewed era of federalism is beginning to take shape, and it is important to consider potential ramifications in other pressing areas—specifically climate change. State and local governments have advanced their own initiatives on climate change when faced with a failure of federal leadership. States have launched climate strategies to combat this growing threat both individually and in coalition. However, in order to mitigate and develop resiliency to climate change, much more needs to be done. This analysis will look at one aspect of the challenge: understanding costs. Resource management for states with ever-thin operational budgets is already logistically daunting without the massive investment in preventative measures needed to meaningfully combat climate change. Where do they start? Do states across the board have the technical capacity to understand what impacts they have already been facing? The resounding answer at this current moment is no.
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    Environmental Justice Considerations for the Implementation of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in North Carolina
    (2021-04-30) Campton, Mike; Chan, Grace; Gilbert, Karen; Mulderrig, Conor; Wilkes, Audrey
    Environmental organizations are pushing North Carolina to consider joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which is a multi-state, market-based cap-and-invest program aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector. Other states have used RGGI as a tool to mitigate climate change, however, a major concern about the program is how it addresses, or fails to address, environmental justice (EJ) concerns. As a result, we conducted research of the impacts from RGGI on EJ communities to inform potential avenues of action that our client, the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV), can take within the state. To inform our recommendations on key environmental justice issues, such as stakeholder participation, hotspots, and impacts on low-income households, we conducted informal interviews with state environmental agency representatives, environmental consultants, organizations with an EJ focus, and EJ community members, a literature review on the impact of cap-and-trade programs on EJ communities, as well as language and policy analysis of RGGI state environmental justice action. We presented NCLCV with a list of recommendations, potential steps for their implementation, and communication materials targeted to relevant stakeholders in North Carolina.