Translating a Global Emission-Reduction Framework for Subnational Climate Action: A Case Study from the State of Georgia
Open accessAbstract
Subnational entities are recognizing the need to systematically examine options for reducing their carbon footprints. However, few robust and comprehensive analyses are available that lay out how US states and regions can most effectively contribute. This paper describes an approach developed for Georgia—a state in the southeastern United States called “Drawdown Georgia”, our research involves (1) understanding Georgia’s baseline carbon footprint and trends, (2) identifying the universe of Georgia-specific carbon-reduction solutions that could be impactful by 2030, (3) estimating the greenhouse gas reduction potential of these high-impact 2030 solutions for Georgia, and (4) estimating associated costs and benefits while also considering how the solutions might impact societal priorities, such as economic development opportunities, public health, environmental benefits, and equity. We began by examining the global solutions identified by Project Drawdown. The resulting 20 high-impact 2030 solutions provide a strategy for reducing Georgia’s carbon footprint in the next decade using market-ready technologies and practices and including negative emission solutions. This paper describes our systematic and replicable process and ends with a discussion of its strengths, weaknesses, and planned future research.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In 2030, based on the GT-NEMS baseline forecast, CO2 emissions from energy consumption in Georgia are estimated to come 41% from electricity and 39% from transportation.
“In 2030, based on the Georgia Tech–National Energy Modeling System (GT-NEMS)’s baseline forecast, CO2 emissions from energy consumption in Georgia are estimated to come 41% from electricity and 39% from transportation, making these two sectors key targets of carbon-reduction opportunity (32).”
From A framework for localizing global climate solutions and their carbon reduction potential (2021) · cites this paper as [32]
Synergistic emissions occur when implementing one solution, such as large-scale solar, boosts the emissions reduction of another, as when EVs operate on lower-carbon electricity.
“Synergistic emissions occur when the implementation of one solution (such as large-scale solar) boosts the emissions reduction of another, as occurs when EVs operate on lower-carbon electricity.”
From A framework for localizing global climate solutions and their carbon reduction potential (2021) · cites this paper as [32]
Mid- and long-term solutions can be difficult to translate into large-scale options if today's choices make them more costly to develop in the future, an example of near-term solutions becoming barriers to alternative and potentially more transformative changes.
“Such mid- and long-term solutions can be difficult to translate into large-scale options if today’s choices make them more costly to develop in the future—an example of near-term solutions becoming barriers to the deployment of alternative and potentially more transformative changes (32).”
From A framework for localizing global climate solutions and their carbon reduction potential (2021) · cites this paper as [32]
Underpinning the analysis of all 20 solutions is a characterization of Georgia's current carbon footprint, created using traditional government and NGO data sources.
“Underpinning the analysis of all 20 solutions is a characterization of Georgia’s current carbon footprint, which is created using traditional government and NGO data sources and is further described in ref. 32 (SI Appendix).”
From A framework for localizing global climate solutions and their carbon reduction potential (2021) · cites this paper as [32]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Sbihi, K., Faissal, A., & Noureddine, E. B. (2021) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-823764-9.00006-6 · Cited by 2,566 · see citing works
Polycentric systems for coping with collective action and global environmental change
Ostrom, E. (2010) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.07.004 · Cited by 2,460 · see citing works
Coumou, D., & Rahmstorf, S. (2012) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/nclimate1452 · Cited by 2,289 · see citing works
Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming
Crowther, T. W., Todd-Brown, K. E., Rowe, C. W., Wieder, W. R., Carey, J. C., Machmuller, M. B., Snoek, B. L., Fang, S., Zhou, G. S., Allison, S., et al. (2016) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature20150 · Cited by 1,429 · see citing works
Self-citationBen‐Amar, W., Chang, M., & McIlkenny, P. (2015) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2759-1 · Cited by 1,242 · see citing works
Estimating economic damage from climate change in the United States
Hsiang, S., Kopp, R., Jina, A., Rising, J., Delgado, M., Mohan, S., Rasmussen, D. J., Muir-Wood, R., Wilson, P., Oppenheimer, M., et al. (2017) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aal4369 · Cited by 1,239 · see citing works
Global increase in major tropical cyclone exceedance probability over the past four decades
Kossin, J. P., Knapp, K. R., Olander, T. L., & Velden, C. S. (2020) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1920849117 · Cited by 675 · see citing works
Total and per capita value of food loss in the United States
Buzby, J. C., & Hyman, J. (2012) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2012.06.002 · Cited by 660 · see citing works
Rapid accumulation and turnover of soil carbon in a re-establishing forest
Richter, D. D. B., Markewitz, D., Trumbore, S. E., & Wells, C. G. (1999) · Nature · doi:10.1038/21867 · Cited by 639 · see citing works
Temperature response of soil respiration largely unaltered with experimental warming
Carey, J. C., Tang, J., Templer, P. H., Kroeger, K. D., Crowther, T. W., Burton, A. J., Dukes, J. S., Emmett, B. A., Frey, S. D., Heskel, M., et al. (2016) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1605365113 · Cited by 528 · see citing works
Self-citationKnutson, T. R., Sirutis, J., Zhao, M., Tuleya, R. E., Bender, M. A., Vecchi, G. A., Villarini, G., & Chavas, D. R. (2015) · Journal of Climate · doi:10.1175/jcli-d-15-0129.1 · Cited by 517 · see citing works
Multi-level governance and power in climate change policy networks
Gregorio, M. D., Fatorelli, L., Paavola, J., Locatelli, B., Pramova, E., Nurrochmat, D. R., May, P. H., Brockhaus, M., Sari, I. M., & Kusumadewi, S. D. (2018) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.10.003 · Cited by 413 · see citing works
Twelve metropolitan carbon footprints: A preliminary comparative global assessment
Sovacool, B. K., & Brown, M. A. (2009) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2009.10.001 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
Self-citationDisparities in rooftop photovoltaics deployment in the United States by race and ethnicity
Sunter, D. A., Castellanos, S., & Kammen, D. M. (2019) · Nature Sustainability · doi:10.1038/s41893-018-0204-z · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Bongaarts, J. (2019) · Population and Development Review · doi:10.1111/padr.12234 · Cited by 314 · see citing works
Markolf, S. A., Chester, M. V., Eisenberg, D. A., Iwaniec, D. M., Davidson, C. I., Zimmerman, R., Miller, T. R., Ruddell, B. L., & Chang, H. (2018) · Earth's Future · doi:10.1029/2018ef000926 · Cited by 312 · see citing works
The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions
Cordero, E. C., Centeno, D., & Todd, A. M. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0206266 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Social Vulnerability to Climate-Sensitive Hazards in the Southern United States
Emrich, C. T., & Cutter, S. L. (2011) · Weather Climate and Society · doi:10.1175/2011wcas1092.1 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
The many possible climates from the Paris Agreement’s aim of 1.5 °C warming
Seneviratne, S. I., Rogelj, J., Séférian, R., Wartenburger, R., Allen, M. R., Cain, M. L., Millar, R. J., Ebi, K. L., Ellis, N. R., Hoegh‐Guldberg, O., et al. (2018) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0181-4 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Climate change and global energy security: technology and policy options
(2012) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.49-3825 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check
Socolow, R. H., & Pacala, S. W. (2006) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0906-50 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Climate change vulnerability assessment in Georgia
KC, B., Shepherd, J. M., & Gaither, C. J. (2015) · Applied Geography · doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2015.04.007 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Multi‐level System of Global Climate Governance – the Model and its Current State
Jänicke, M. (2017) · Environmental Policy and Governance · doi:10.1002/eet.1747 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Foster, S., Leichenko, R., Nguyen, K. H., Blake, R., Kunreuther, H., Madajewicz, M., Petkova, E. P., Zimmerman, R., Corbin‐Mark, C., Yeampierre, E., et al. (2019) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/nyas.14009 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Climate change in the American mind: November 2019Preprint
Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E. W., Rosenthal, S. A., Kotcher, J., Bergquist, P., Ballew, M. T., Goldberg, M. H., & Gustafson, A. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/z3wtx · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Bridging the greenhouse-gas emissions gap
Blok, K., Höhne, N., van der Leun, K., & Harrison, N. (2012) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/nclimate1602 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Climate change policies and agendas: Facing implementation challenges and guiding responses
Alves, F., Leal Filho, W., Casaleiro, P., Nagy, G. J., Diaz, H., Al-Amin, A. Q., de Andrade Guerra, J. B. S. O., Hurlbert, M., Farooq, H., Klavins, M., et al. (2020) · Environmental Science & Policy · doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2019.12.001 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Carbon Lock-In: Barriers to Deploying Climate Change Mitigation Technologies
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), O. R., Brown, M., USDOE, Georgia Inst. of Technology, A., (CCTP), U. S. C. C. T. P., Chandler, J., Lapsa, M. V., & Sovacool, B. K. (2008) · doi:10.2172/1424507 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Self-citationRegional Climate Model Projections and Uncertainties of U.S. Summer Heat Waves
Kunkel, K. E., Liang, X., & Zhu, J. (2010) · Journal of Climate · doi:10.1175/2010jcli3349.1 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Peak shifting and cross-class subsidization: The impacts of solar PV on changes in electricity costs
Johnson, E., Beppler, R., Blackburn, C., Staver, B., Brown, M., & Matisoff, D. (2017) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.03.034 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Self-citationAiding multi-level decision-making processes for climate change mitigation and adaptation
Daniell, K. A., Costa, M. M., Ferrand, N., Vassileva, M., Aix, F., Coad, P., & Ribarova, I. S. (2009) · Regional Environmental Change · doi:10.1007/s10113-010-0162-0 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Low-Income Energy Affordability: Conclusions From A Literature Review
Brown, M. A., Soni, A., Lapsa, M. V., & Southworth, K. (2020) · doi:10.2172/1607178 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Self-citationAre all jobs created equal? Regional employment impacts of a U.S. carbon tax
Brown, M. A., Li, Y., & Soni, A. (2020) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.114354 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Self-citationCommunication and Hazard Perception Lessons from Category Five Hurricane Michael
Senkbeil, J. C., Myers, L., Jasko, S. A., et al. (2020) · Atmosphere · doi:10.3390/atmos11080804 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Climate research priorities for policy-makers, practitioners, and scientists in Georgia, USA
Rudd, M. A., Moore, A. F. P., Rochberg, D., Bianchi-Fossati, L., Brown, M. A., D’Onofrio, D., Furman, C., Garcia, J., Jordan, B., Kline, J., et al. (2018) · Environmental Management · doi:10.1007/s00267-018-1051-4 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Self-citationEnvironmental Quality and the U.S. Power Sector: Air Quality, Land Use and Environmental Justice
Massetti, E., USDOE, Brown, M., et al. (2017) · doi:10.2172/1339359 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationMachmuller, M. B., Ballantyne, F., Markewitz, D., et al. (2018) · Biogeochemistry · doi:10.1007/s10533-018-0501-7 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Near-source air quality impact of a distributed natural gas combined heat and power facility
Yang, B., Gu, J., Zhang, T., et al. (2018) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.12.067 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Carbon lock-in: barriers to the deployment of climate change mitigation technologies
Brown, M. A., Chandler, J., Lapsa, M. V., et al. (2007) · Figshare · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationDrawdown’s “System of Solutions” Helps to Achieve the SDGs
Frischmann, C. J., Mehra, M., Allard, R., Bayuk, K., Gouveia, J. P., & Gorman, M. R. (2020) · Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71067-9_100-1 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), G., Bird, L. A., Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S) USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), et al. (2015) · doi:10.2172/1225307 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Hawken P (2017) Drawdown: the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming. Penguin Press, New York, New York
- IPCC Climate Change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Part A: global and sectoral aspects. Contribution of working group II to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change 2014 Cambridge and New York, NY Cambridge University Press 6
- IPCC (2018) Global warming of 1.5 °C. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, Cambridge, England
- McKinsey & Company (2020) Climate math: what a 1.5-degree pathway would take. McKinsey Quarterly. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/climate-math-what-a-1-point-5-degree-pathway-would-take (Accessed 7 June 2020)
- Polycentric systems for coping with collective action and global environmental change 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.07.004 · DOI · Paper page
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A framework for localizing global climate solutions and their carbon reduction potential
Brown, M. A., Dwivedi, P., Mani, S., Matisoff, D., Mohan, J. E., Mullen, J., Oxman, M., Rodgers, M., Simmons, R., Beasley, B., et al. (2021) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2100008118 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Brown, M. A., Beasley, B., Atalay, F., Cobb, K. M., Dwiveldi, P., Hubbs, J., Iwaniek, D. M., Mani, S., Matisoff, D., Mohan, J. E., Mullen, J., Oxman, M., Rochberg, D., Rodgers, M., Shepherd, M., Simmons, R., Taylor, L., & Toktay, L. B.
- Affiliations
- Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
- Emory University (US)
- Georgia State University (US)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Corresponding author
- Brown, Marilyn A.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Environmental Management
- Published
- 2021-01-15
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 205-227
- ISSN
- 0364-152X (ISSN-L)
- 1432-1009
- PMC
- PMC7809095
- OpenAlex
- W3119575497
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5
- FWCI
- 3.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Environmental Management (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Archive @ GSU (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Climate Change Policy and Economics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Sustainable Development
- Keywords
- subnational climate action, carbon footprint reduction, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, carbon dioxide removal, cost-benefit analysis, equity, economic development, Georgia
- MeSH terms
- Greenhouse Gases, Carbon, Climate, Georgia, Carbon Footprint
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
