Our ongoing projects examine market-based, nonregulatory, and alternative forms of governance across cutting-edge environmental policy frontiers, organized under two overarching research initiatives.
Initiative I: Next Generation Climate, Energy & Emerging Technology Governance
Focus: Macro, systems-level, and multi-level policy, regulatory design, energy transitions, and emerging technology governance, including social equity and environmental justice
1. Governance of AI Infrastructure and Data Center Energy Demand
Focus: Governance of regional energy grid capacity, water usage, and renewable energy procurement for AI and high-performance computing data centers
Project Status: Active Data Collection / In Progress
Co-Authors: Lily Hsueh (ASU), Ximing Dong (PhD Student, ASU)
Initiative: Next Generation Climate, Energy & Emerging Technology Governance
Project Summary
The demand for hyperscale data centers has surged, making them critical infrastructure supporting the rapid expansion of generative AI since 2023. This rapid growth in energy use has raised concerns about rising electricity demand and prices (Chen et al. 2025; Karimi et al. 2022; Mytton and Ashtine 2022; Libertson et al. 2021). Data centers may also impose local burdens related to water scarcity, noise pollution, limited local job creation, and gentrification (Privette et al. 2026; Pan Fang and Greenstein 2025; Monstadt and Saltzman 2025; Siddik et al. 2021). In response to these issues, local governments, developers, and residents have clashed, collaborated, and developed a range of solutions to solve these siting challenges. Previous “not-in-my-backyard” (NIMBY) literature often discusses hazardous facility siting solutions in silos, such as direct (re)zoning regulation, compensation, communication, and collaboration. However, existing data show that different cities and states have often combined these solutions in creative ways for data center siting, and that these “package deals” have evolved quickly since 2023. Drawing on theories of policy diffusion, risk perception, and risk management, this research asks: How have city-level data center siting solutions evolved and diffused since 2023? What factors drive these changes?
To answer these questions, we compile a national corpus of data center siting documents through web scraping. Using a fine-tuned BERTopic large language model for topic modeling, we computationally identify patterns in siting solutions and construct a panel dataset of data center siting cases in the U.S. In this novel author-constructed dataset, we also combine residents’ engagement records, national and local media coverage, pre-existing data center presence, neighboring cities’ siting packages, and local political and economic variables. This integrated dataset enables a comprehensive analysis of longitudinal and cross-sector decision-making. Methodologically, we use event history analysis based on multistate survival models to examine how data center siting solutions have evolved over time and what factors drive these changes. Our preliminary results show that, under the influence of residents, media coverage, and political factors, data center siting packages gradually shift from the establishment of zoning standards alone toward broader community benefit assurances and community collaboration. This research is among the first to analyze data center governance at the national level. It provides a large-scale empirical setting to advance generalizable theories of policy evolution and diffusion, specifically regarding the complex trade-offs among technological advancement, economic development, and environmental and energy concerns. Furthermore, it contributes to the environmental policy and urban planning literature through a longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of data center siting in the United States.
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2. U.S. Tribal Energy Governance and Decarbonization Pathways
Focus: Tribal energy sovereignty, intergovernmental relations, and institutional mechanisms for accelerating clean energy transitions on Tribal lands
Project Status: Active Data Collection & Pilot Study
Co-Authors: Lily Hsueh (ASU), Kimberly Yazzie (University of British Columbia), Chris Field (Stanford)
Initiative: Next Generation Climate, Energy & Emerging Technology Governance
Project Summary
There are unprecedented opportunities to grow Tribal clean energy in the United States. While the large-scale technical potential of renewable energy development on Tribal lands is high, a quarter of Tribal households in the U.S. lack access to the grid underscoring the energy inequities and strained energy infrastructure in Tribal communities. Regulatory complexities and uncertainties, insufficient Tribal representation at the policymaking table, and limited technical and staff capacity are barriers that are frequently cited as limiting the energy transformation in Tribal communities. In recent years, U.S. climate laws–the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act–have provided previously unavailable opportunities for Tribes to receive tax incentives and direct pay, addressing some of the prohibitive cost barriers to developing renewable energy technologies on Tribal lands. However, there is limited understanding of the cross-level Tribal, state, and federal governance interactions, as well as the Tribal and private sector interplay that could facilitate or impede large-scale clean energy development, which in turn shape environmental and socioeconomic outcomes. This study pursues three objectives: to assess the regulatory interface between Tribal, federal, and state jurisdictions; to characterize Tribal and private sector partnerships in clean energy development; and to identify the institutional drivers and fiscal frameworks required to meet Tribal energy and economic priorities.
Objective 1 (Indian Laws and U.S. Climate/Energy Policy Interactions): Through what mechanisms do the interactions between Tribal law and U.S. policy influence the development of resilient energy systems in Native American and Indigenous communities?
Objective 2 (Decentralized Governance and Tribal-Private Sector Interactions): What are the drivers of private sector engagement and partnerships? How can existing Tribal capacity and business acumen, combined with private sector partnerships, be leveraged for Tribal clean energy development?
Objective 3 (Incentives and Institutions Across Tribal, State, and Federal governments): How can multilevel institutional support and fiscal catalysts be designed to leverage existing policies and institutions, such as the Tribal Energy Resource Agreements and the Tribal Energy Development Organizations, to meet the diverse energy and economic priorities of Tribal Nations?
The proposed study will employ a mixed-methods approach that draws from political and policy sciences, landscape ecology, and Indigenous research methodologies to conduct a comparative case study of four Tribal energy systems. Our multidisciplinary team will train student research assistants in quantitative analysis and archival research, as well as in conducting semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Our study will analyze the mechanisms of Tribal, state, and private-sector interactions, resulting in a conceptual framework for multilevel governance and pathways to Tribal energy independence. We will evaluate climate policies to identify the institutional supports and fiscal catalysts—including tax credits and incentive programs—that empower large-scale Tribal energy development.
The case studies will demonstrate the complementary assets, business models (e.g., Tribal-private partnerships), and energy technology mixes and scales (e.g., large-scale solar) that could be effective in addressing Tribal energy independence and achieving desirable socioeconomic and environmental outcomes. Our study provides a first-of-its-kind examination of the socioeconomic, institutional, and infrastructural barriers, and opportunities and their interactions from the perspective of Tribes when developing large-scale renewable energy projects.
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3. Does Renewable Energy Policy Induce Technology Innovation and Adoption? Evidence from OECD Countries
Focus: Comparative evaluation of Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in driving renewable technology patents and generation across OECD nations
Project Status: Working Paper / Under Review
Co-Authors: Eugene Cho (PhD Candidate, ASU), Lily Hsueh (ASU)
Initiative: Next Generation Climate, Energy & Emerging Technology Governance
Project Summary
This paper investigates the influence of renewable energy policies on technological innovation and adoption within the renewable energy sector across 30 OECD countries (2000–2019), with a focus on Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). Employing dynamic panel data regression models, this study compares the efficacy of FIT and RPS in driving technological innovation and adoption, as proxied by country-level patent registrations and renewable energy generation. The analysis reveals a statistically significant synergistic effect when RPS and FIT policies are concurrently implemented, suggesting that a combined policy approach is more effective in fostering innovation than either policy alone. Furthermore, the study examines the relationship between relative energy prices and renewable energy generation through a five-country comparative analysis (United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom). The findings highlight the critical role of policy design in achieving environmental objectives and securing energy independence, emphasizing the need for ongoing policy evaluation and adaptation to technological and market developments.
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4. Voluntary Carbon Markets and the Design of International Climate Clubs
Focus: The design of high-integrity private carbon markets and their integration into international climate club architectures and trade regimes
Project Status: Working Paper
Co-Authors: Lily Hsueh (ASU), Connor Nolan (Stanford)
Initiative: Next Generation Climate, Energy & Emerging Technology Governance
Project Summary
Over a decade after the 2015 Paris Agreement, the voluntary carbon market (VCM) has reached a critical turning point. Early "green clubs"—programs that grant companies reputational or regulatory rewards in exchange for voluntary climate action—succeeded in building initial market participation. However, rapid growth has triggered a widespread crisis of credit quality. Drawing on the green club framework and its conceptualization of monitoring and enforcement "swords," we analyze the VCM as a system of nested governance structures spanning meta-governance bodies, certification layers, and market participants. We demonstrate that rather than achieving institutional harmonization, voluntary carbon clubs exhibit a systemic tendency toward "swords that dull"—an erosion of oversight rigor driven by five interconnected mechanisms: the developer-pays principal-agent conflict, scale-driven erosion, persistent information asymmetry leading to a classic "market for lemons," methodological lock-in, and sponsorship drift. Through illustrative case studies of legacy and emerging entities—including Verra, Isometric, the IC-VCM, and Frontier—we show how quality uncertainty systematically displaces high-integrity projects. To restore market integrity, our analysis points toward a modular, multi-level program design. By harmonizing standards with independent enforcement, adopting buyer-pays models, and embedding dynamic risk-management mechanisms, modular clubs can rebuild trust and align private corporate incentives with real environmental gains.
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Initiative II: Firm-Government Dynamics, Organizational Capacity & Corporate Decarbonization
Focus: Micro-level, firm-centered research opening the "black box" of the firm to examine how managerial agency, organizational capacity, and market forces shape corporate decarbonization strategies and firm–government interactions
5. Managerial Agency, Firm Dynamics, and Private-Public Interactions in Decarbonization Strategies
Focus: How internal managerial agency, executive leadership, and organizational capacity shape corporate climate strategies, and how these internal firm dynamics interact with and respond to public policy drivers
Project Status: Data Analysis / In Progress
Co-Authors: Mallory Flower (University of Rhode Island), Lily Hsueh (ASU)
Initiative: Firm–Government Dynamics, Organizational Capacity & Corporate Decarbonization
Project Summary
As the private sector faces increasing pressure to address climate change, a critical question remains: are corporate responses driving physical decarbonization or merely "accounting-based" success? Effective climate governance requires distinguishing between impactful actions and those that rely on non-additional instruments. While some firms achieve operational reductions, others utilize reporting flexibility—specifically the "market-based method" for Scope 2 emissions—to close emission gaps without altering physical energy consumption. This paper investigates whether firm-level managerial capacity directs corporate resources toward substantive energy transitions or toward the strategic use of reporting "gaps." Building on the political-economic strategic management framework of Hsueh (2025), we argue that a meaningful corporate climate response is a function of both external policy signals and internal managerial capacity. We define managerial capacity as the interplay of leadership commitment, technical knowledge, and organizational culture. We hypothesize that firms with higher managerial capacity are more likely to pursue energy efficiency and on-site renewables (physical impact) rather than relying on market-based instruments that lack additionality. We test these hypotheses using a novel panel dataset of over 500 publicly traded firms (2018–2022). We operationalize our dependent variable as the "Scope 2 Emissions Gap"—the delta between a firm’s location-based (physical intensity) and market-based (contractual) emissions. Using a two-stage double hurdle modeling approach, we examine how managerial capacity—measured through dedicated sustainability roles and board-level climate expertise—influences this gap. We further explore how this relationship is moderated by a manager’s education and training and the firm’s complementary business capabilities. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the ongoing debate regarding the GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 dual-reporting requirements and the emerging climate disclosure rules across jurisdictions. By identifying the internal drivers of "paper" versus "physical" decarbonization, this study informs regulators on how to design transparency standards that incentivize genuine emission reductions and mitigate the risks of "green masking" through accounting maneuvers.
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For a deeper look into the lab's foundational theoretical framework, you can watch Dr. Lily Hsueh's Book Talk on Corporations at Climate Crossroads, where she discusses how internal firm leadership and external regulatory pressures interact to shape corporate climate action.