Search

This paper examines the impact of the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in Canada and non-ratification of the Protocol in the United States on the Climate Action Network (CAN). CAN is a longstanding transnational coalition of environmental organizations committed to effecting policy in order to mitigate the impact of dangerous climate change. This paper assesses the network theoretical impact of Canada's ratification and the U.S.'s non-ratification on domestic-level NGO relations and activities through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and a network analysis of CAN relations within both contexts from 2001 to 2006. Data reveal that CAN Canada became more cohesive and institutionalized as a coalition during this time period, whereas US CAN remained a diffuse coalition and engaged in consensus mobilization as well as collective action mobilization post-Kyoto. This paper offers theoretical insights into the role that international agreements have on domestic-level inter-organizational networks and activities. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine interpretations of climate change among "rank and file" members of Canadian environmental groups. We focus on environmentalists' attribution of responsibility for addressing climate change and their beliefs about the necessary solutions to this problem. Our analysis is based on responses to open-ended questions that were part of a self-administered survey completed by 1227 members of nine different environmental organizations. For this group of environmental movement participants, the federal government is typically seen as most responsible for addressing with climate change. Government leadership is seen as necessary because it has the power set regulations and lead corporations and citizens towards pro-environmental behavior. State-oriented solutions are similarly favored by a majority of participants, with an emphasis on stricter legislation and punitive taxation. Besides the focus on government leadership, a large number of participants assert that "individuals are the driving force" in dealing with climate change. In this framework, individuals can take responsibility either through making lifestyle changes, or through applying pressure to government and businesses as citizens and consumers. A dominant theme is that corporations are unwilling to change on their own. Instead, recalcitrant corporations must be coerced into becoming more environmentally sustainable by a strong state. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the diffusion of local actions against global climate change in Australia, Canada and the U.S. Since the late 1980s, numerous studies have warned about the effects of global climate change. Local actions against global climate change were initiated in 1991 with the Urban CO2 Reduction Project, which aimed at designing local strategies to control the emission of greenhouse gases. The success of this program lead to the Cities for Climate Protection program, initiated two years later by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.

This paper analyzes the diffusion of a campaign against global climate change among local governments. The main goal of this research is to understand the way in which the perception of a global environmental threat such as climate change stimulates local collective action. Using original data collected from surveys and interviews, I examine the factors which influence the adoption of the program aiming to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses by municipalities in the US and Canada. Two main questions are addressed: what accounts for the particular diffusion of the CCP campaign among municipalities, and what explains the relative success or failure of the local governments that are involved in this campaign. More specifically, why the campaign diffuses faster in certain countries and regions then in others, and why are some local governments more successful then others in reaching the campaign's goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]