Work Description

Read me for the dataset: "Climate Action Plan adoption for 176 U.S. cities, 2010-2019"
https://doi.org/10.7302/2vm5-h202

Creator: Benjamin Leffel

Description: Time series dataset of adoption by year of climate action plans by 177 U.S. cities, 2010-2019, with links to plans included. This dataset is intended for use by researchers and practitioners investigating both individual climate action plans and time series patterns of adoption at the municipal level.

Methodology: A manual review of municipal government adoption of climate action plans was performed by checking individual city government websites. Google search terms "[city name]" + "climate action plan" were used as the primary search method. The full list of cities included in the search comprise over 1,000 U.S. cities, including the largest metropolises. Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0". Once a climate action plan is adopted, the value of "1" remains constant throughout the dataset. Cities marked with a value of "1" in the starting year of 2010 have a climate action plan already in place prior to that year. Criteria for inclusion in the dataset is an adopted "climate action plan" or equivalent sustainability/energy/environmental plan that includes climate mitigation measures targeting GHG reductions. This does not include recommendations published by officials, or various sustainability efforts implemented separately or otherwise outside the purview of a dedicated plan. Many cities passed resolutions before pledging to be ‘still in’ in 2017 and then passing an action climate action plan in 2021, such as Jersey City ( https://jcmakeitgreen.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Reso-15-485_Climate-Change.pdf), which this dataset codes as 0 throughout 2010-2019. Ithaca, NY adopted an energy action plan ( https://www.cityofithaca.org/DocumentCenter/View/11052/Ithaca-Green-New-Deal-Resolution-FINAL-cert) in 2013 that’s a functional equivalent of a climate action plan, which the city later adopted, hence I coded 2013-on as Ithaca having a climate action plan. The same is true for Milwaukee, whose 2008-on carbon mitigation efforts were without a climate action plan but involved work with homes and businesses on solar, the Better buildings Challenge ( https://city.milwaukee.gov/bbc#.VlOVeqPnaUk), etc. Hence this is coded as 1 from 2010-9. Also not included are green certifications such as New York State’s Climate Smart Communities certifications (hence is why Poughkeepsie ( https://www.townofpoughkeepsie.com/254/Climate-Smart-Task-Force-CSTF) is labeled 0 throughout 2010-2019). Raleigh’s first actual climate action plan wasn’t until recently, but documentation shows that as far back as 2008, city sustainability commitments and goals had reached across sectors ( https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR27/2013CORSustainabilityAnnualReport.pdf) in a manner equivalent to a climate action plan, hence this is coded 1 from 2010-2019. Most cities, as well as most counties, only began developing climate action plans after 2020. A noteworthy and potentially complementary dataset is the International City/County Management Association's 2015 Local Government Sustainability Practices Survey Report ( https://icma.org/documents/icma-survey-research-2015-local-government-sustainability-practices-survey-report) which provides U.S. local government responses to "sustainability plan adoption" among other actions. It should be noted that "sustainability action plans" are a more common form of municipal environmental plan than those labeled "climate action" specifically, in part because of political palatability, and because "sustainability" comprises broader environmental actions than those specifically targeting climate change mitigation. Another relevant dataset is the ClimActor dataset from Hsu et al., 2020.

Explanation of the variables listed in the spreadsheet (Variable name: Description)

CITY_STATE: concatenation of city name and state name
city: name of city
state: name of state
county: name of county
CAP2010: climate action plan adoption status as of 2010; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
CAP2011: climate action plan adoption status as of 2011; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
CAP2012: climate action plan adoption status as of 2012; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
CAP2013: climate action plan adoption status as of 2013; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
CAP2014: climate action plan adoption status as of 2014; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
CAP2015: climate action plan adoption status as of 2015; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
CAP2016: climate action plan adoption status as of 2016; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
CAP2017: climate action plan adoption status as of 2017; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
CAP2018: climate action plan adoption status as of 2018; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
CAP2019: climate action plan adoption status as of 2019; Adoption is denoted by a value of "1", non-adoption by "0"
source: URL address of climate action plan documents