This is a group activity. 

Find at least one interesting example of a policy in your (local) area that is intergovernmental in nature (i.e., it reflects local, state, or federal government relations around an issue). Share your ideas and receive feedback in a small group. In your post, include the following:

– A brief overview of the policy?

– A brief description of the branches of government involved in the policy?

– The current status of the policy?

– Sources and resources available to research this policy?

-Why this particular issue is of interest to you?

Posting to Group 2 

Israel Perez posted Jun 10, 2022 2:48 AM

The United States Department of State is involved in addressing the climate crisis that is affecting American states, counties and cities across the nation. The climate change has excessive heat, unpredictable weather, drought, and devastating fires that threatens communities nationwide. Therefore, the goal of the United States is to reduce carbon to zero to make the world a clean place for future generations (State Department). The federal, state and local governments often team up to come up with plans to combat this threat at their jurisdiction. this intergovernmental partnership is crucial to reducing our carbon footprint. 

In addition to the State Department, States and local governments have departments to combat climate change. In my home state of California and the County of San Diego, climate change policies were adopted to combat the climate crisis. By the year 2030, the State of California’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below the 1990 levels (Berkley Law, 2022). The County of San Diego, Board of Supervisors, approved the Climate Action Plan in 2018 meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 30 years (COSD, 2022). The County of San Diego (COSD) focus on reducing pollution within the County jurisdiction and property. 

Currently, the federal, state and local government policies on the climate crisis are valid but some are still being updated or modified. The federal Government and the State of California offers local governments grants that they can use to partner with private entities and work on projects, including financing and construction to reduce our carbon footprint (EPA, 2022). 

The sources and resources are available on the State Department, EPA, California.gov and County of San Diego websites. There’s also scholarly articles on climate change that examines the effects of climate change. 

The climate crisis interests me, because the climate change is still developing and it’s not fully understood. The United States Federal government, several states, counties and cities are committed to reduce the effects of climate change. In addition, the climate crisis is a worldwide problem so many countries, including the United Nations, are involve in action against climate change. Unfortunately, climate change is used as a political tool and sometimes comical that it’s hard to take it seriously. For instance, the antagonists causing global warming are the belching cows. We might be seeing chicken on billboards in the near future saying “Eat more hamburgers, save our planet.” All jokes aside, cows are being blamed for global warming to the point that New Zealand is planning implement a cow and sheep burp tax 

References

“State Department: Climate Policies.” Policy Issue. https://www.state.gov/policy-issues/

“California Climate Policy Dashboard.” California Climate Policy. Berkley Law. https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/clee/research/climate/climate-policy-dashboard/

“Climate Action Plan.” County of San Diego Climate Action Plan. County of San Diego. https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/sustainability/cap.html

“Federal Funding and Technical Assistance for Climate Adaptation.” Climate Change Adaptation Resource Center (ARC-X). United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/arc-x/federal-funding-and-technical-assistance-climate-adaptation#epa

Peter Hoskins (2022). “Climate change: New Zealand's plan to tax cow and sheep burps.” Business. BBC News.https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61741352

In your responses to classmates, provide feedback on their ideas. Do the policies they have identified involve intergovernmental relations at multiple levels? Does it seem that there are sufficient resources to be able to conduct thorough analyses of the policies? Do you have any additional information, resources, or connections that would help with their analyses?

For this discussion, respond to each member of your small group.

For your response posts, you must do the following:

– Post one to three paragraphs.

– Demonstrate more depth and thought than simply stating “I agree” or “You are wrong.”

– Consider content from other parts of the course where appropriate. Use proper citation methods for your discipline when referencing scholarly or popular sources.