Don Willenburg and David Heckadon have authored a chapter in the 2011 edition of "Inside the Minds: The Legal Impact of Climate Change" published by Aspatore Books, a Thomson Reuters publisher. The title of their chapter is "Forget the Feds, the States are Where the Action Is – Or Are They?"
The first part of the chapter discusses the pending United States Supreme Court case American Electric Power v. Connecticut, where the Second Circuit held that states, local governments and land owners could pursue a federal common law nuisance cause of action against electric power producers to cap carbon dioxide emissions. The utilities involved in the case argue that there can be no such cause of action because it would conflict with, among other things, the President's ability to negotiate international agreements respecting greenhouse gases.
The second part of the chapter discusses climate change plans in seven U.S. states, one Canadian province, and one U.S. city, identifying common elements as well as differences resulting from particular circumstances in each jurisdiction.