Outsourced Emissions : Why Local Governments Should Track and Measure Consumption-Based Greenhouse Gases

While many local governments track greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, almost all of them exclude the counting of GHGs associated with consumption. These emissions stem from the lifecycle production, pre-purchase transportation, sale, and disposal of goods, food, and services produced outside of a local jurisdiction but consumed inside the jurisdiction. Based on the limited data measuring these extraterritorial emissions, they amount to more than half, and in some places more than three-fourths, of GHG emissions directly connected to local consumption patterns and behaviors. This Article explores whether local governments should track and measure these pervasive GHGs; and how doing so may unlock meaningful information about our carbon footprint, and further meaningful climate mitigation where it can be most effective.This Article is most concerned with how the dramatic undercounting of GHG emissions at the local level and the proliferation of GHG emissions associated with consumption can lead to both under- and over-regulation at the local level. The Article details the importance of tracking and measuring consumption-based GHGs by identifying four reasons supporting tracking these gases. First, given the voluminous amount of GHGs associated with urban consumption, there are significant opportunities to explore regulation. In order to do so, local communities must have the correct information. Second, failing to measure these GHGs can lead to inaccurate and inefficient regulation. Third, regulating GHGs in the absence of consumption-based information may penalize local production. Finally, measuring local consumption-based GHGs may provide the necessary information leading to more politically feasible and equitable regulation. The Article concludes that tracking these emissions is a critical step to ensuring that the necessary GHG reduction targets are met