Local Greens
Cities and Twenty-first Century Environmental Problems

The first clear-eyed analysis of the potential for big city governments to address climate change in the early 21st century.

Katrina M. Wyman (Author), Danielle Spiegel-Feld (Author)

9781009011976, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 September 2025

284 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.5 cm, 0.41 kg

'At a time when federal policy on climate change zig-zags across administrations, large cities have become important actors in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to their consequences. Professors Wyman and Spiegel-Feld's excellent book provides a compelling and sophisticated account of the role that cities can play in addressing climate change.' Richard L. Revesz, AnBryce Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus, New York University School of Law

As the federal government failed to take ambitious action to limit climate change in the early 21st century, many cities in the US pledged to step into the void. Networks of city governments and philanthropists offered support and cities invested their own resources in sustainability offices. However, cities made limited progress in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in the first two decades of this century. Local Greens provides a clear-eyed analysis of the potential for big city governments to address society's most pressing environmental problems in the near term. Through original case studies of New York's environmental policy efforts in the early 21st century, the book examines the promise and perils of turning to cities to tackle climate change. Drawing on an analysis of cities' strengths and weaknesses, the book outlines a high-level agenda for urban environmental policy for a sustainable future.

Introduction
1. A Brief History of Cities in Environmental Policy
2. An Analytical Framework
3. Local Environmental Protection in NYC
4. Local Decarbonization Efforts in NYC
5. Adapting to Climate Change in NYC
6. An Urban Climate Change Agenda for the Early 21st Century
Coda
Notes.

Subject Areas: Environment law [LNKJ]