Think tank @BrownUniversity providing accessible research for just climate policy & climate denial accountability. Led by @TimmonsRoberts, powered by undergrads
Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Joined September 2011
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The @climatedevlab began this project with a team of students going to committee rooms at the statehouse and the state archives, here in Rhode Island. After studies in MA and CT, we went national. State-level politics are super-important, esp. with gridlock in DC.
Who is lobbying with whom, against what, and with what outcomes?
This article was five years in the making, built on a huge new dataset. Proud of the work by @ClimateDevLab scholars @GalenPHall and @trevordculhane, and really useful results.
it's here: sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
You can read the full report at climatedevlab.brown.edu/post…
Climate advocates have played an active role in shifting the narrative around climate policy, by partnering with or building pro-climate business and economic groups, like the @EnviroLeagueMA Corporate Council.
Despite this opposition, many businesses are already benefiting from climate action - all while the business associations that claim to represent them oppose pro-climate policies.
In our analysis, we found that state and local business associations most commonly argued that pro-climate policies would increase costs or harm the economy, while ignore the costs of inaction and the economic benefits of climate policies.
ALT Figure 3: Most frequent arguments made by business associations against climate action in state legislatures. Level two claims are shown. Claim 4.1 (Climate policies are harmful) is dominated by arguments about how climate policy would increase costs. Percentages are of coded documents that had at least one claim (64 documents).
State business associations focused on attacking climate solutions, and almost never questioned climate science. Instead, they focused on how climate solutions wouldn’t work or aren’t necessary.
Across the 12 states and 200,000+ lobbying and testimony records we analyzed, business associations were the third most actively opposed to environmental groups on energy and climate legislation.
ALT Figure 2: Industries ranked by how likely it is that members of that industry will oppose environmental policy groups' positions on climate and energy bills (top ten industries shown). Electric utilities, oil & gas interests, and business associations were the most likely to show up to oppose environmental groups across states. Figure reproduced from Hall et al. 2024.
Our latest report, "Manufacturing Delay: How Local Business Associations Argue Against State-Level Climate Policy" shows how state business associations frequently oppose pro-climate legislation across US states.
climatedevlab.brown.edu/post…
🧵:
The Climate and Development Lab retweeted
Check out new research fueled by IBES alums – "Where ideology meets private interest: the three-part composition of climate obstruction in the United States"
@ClimateDevLab @ClimateSSN
iopscience.iop.org/article/1…
Is one countermovement fighting action on climate change or three?
Turns out there are 3: "the conservative movement, oil and gas industry groups, and electric utilities/mining/heavy industry"..movement is the "interface"
iopscience.iop.org/article/1…
Go @climatedevlab @climatessn
Check out the full Illinois report here: climatedevlab.brown.edu/post…
Want to explore the Illinois lobbying landscape for yourself? Check out howdotheylobby.org/, our new tool that allows you to search millions of lobbying/testimony records and coalition networks in Illinois and 16 other states - on all bills, not just climate-related ones.
The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act stands out as a key success story for the green transition, and shows how an alliance of environmental and labor groups was able to pass an ambitious spending package.
Using a network analysis of over 6,000 testimony records, we found that coalitions of large business and fossil fuel groups frequently opposed environmental coalitions, while labor testimony varied based on the union.
Environmental groups testified most often on climate and energy bills, however presence does not equal power. The IL Manufacturers' Association, the IL Chamber of Commerce, and the IL Municipal League were also among the most frequent testifiers on climate and energy bills.
Our latest report on climate and energy in Illinois, analyzing testimony on 878 bills, shows how fossil fuel and business groups clash with environmental & progressive organizations on energy policy.
Full report here: climatedevlab.brown.edu/post…
🧵 below:
Read the full report at climatedevlab.brown.edu/post…
Environmental Justice Rising: The passage of House Bill 1266 in 2021 reflects the elevation of environmental justice issues in the state, leading to newer, grassroots environmental coalitions gaining more power at the statehouse.
Dependence on Natural Gas: Natural gas is the leading source of electricity generation in Colorado. Gas expansion bills pit the oil industry and business groups against environmental organizations.
Xcel’s Sway: Utilities in Colorado lobby in large numbers on climate and clean energy bills. The state’s largest investor-owned utility, Xcel Energy, was the 4th most-active organization in our dataset, lobbying on more than half the bills.
Major New Data: We built the first systematic dataset of lobbying on climate and clean energy legislation in Colorado, documenting more than 56,000 positions taken by 942 organizations on 334 bills.
Check out the key findings from our recent briefing, “Climate and Clean Energy Lobbying in Colorado” #COPolitics 🧵
climatedevlab.brown.edu/post…