What If Ann Arbor Had Achieved Carbon Neutrality a Decade Earlier?

The Actual History

Ann Arbor, Michigan—a city of approximately 120,000 residents and home to the University of Michigan—has long positioned itself as a leader in environmental policy among mid-sized American cities. The city's journey toward sustainability has been marked by ambitious goals, incremental progress, and the challenges of implementing transformative change within existing political and economic constraints.

Ann Arbor's environmental initiatives gained momentum in the early 2000s:

Early Climate Commitments: In 2003, Ann Arbor became one of the first U.S. cities to join the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign. The city established its first greenhouse gas reduction targets and began tracking municipal emissions.
Initial Sustainability Framework: The city adopted its first Climate Action Plan in 2012, which set a goal of reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025 and 90% by 2050 (compared to 2000 levels). This plan included strategies for energy efficiency, renewable energy, transportation, waste reduction, and land use.
Incremental Implementation: Between 2012 and 2019, Ann Arbor implemented various sustainability initiatives including:
- Installing solar panels on municipal buildings
- Converting streetlights to LED technology
- Expanding bicycle infrastructure
- Enhancing energy efficiency requirements in building codes
- Improving public transit options
- Establishing a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program to finance energy improvements
University Partnership: The University of Michigan, while operating independently from city government, pursued its own sustainability goals, including a commitment in 2011 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025. The university's research capacity and student activism created additional momentum for environmental initiatives.

Despite these efforts, progress toward emissions reduction targets remained slower than anticipated. By 2019, community-wide emissions had decreased by approximately 15% from 2000 levels—meaningful progress, but not on pace to meet the city's goals. Several factors contributed to this implementation gap:

Funding Constraints: Many ambitious initiatives required significant upfront investment, which was difficult to secure within normal municipal budget processes.
Jurisdictional Limitations: The city had limited authority over many emissions sources, particularly those related to private buildings, transportation choices, and energy supply.
Political Resistance: While Ann Arbor's political culture was generally supportive of environmental initiatives, specific proposals often faced opposition when they involved increased costs, regulatory requirements, or changes to established practices.
Technical Challenges: The transition to renewable energy and electrified transportation systems involved complex technical challenges that took time to resolve.

The situation changed dramatically in November 2019, when Ann Arbor declared a climate emergency and committed to a far more ambitious goal: achieving carbon neutrality for the entire community by 2030. This "A2Zero" plan, formally adopted in June 2020, represented a fundamental shift in the city's approach:

Comprehensive Scope: The plan addressed all community emissions, not just municipal operations, and included strategies for energy, buildings, mobility, materials management, and food systems.
Specific Strategies: The plan identified seven strategies with 44 specific actions to achieve carbon neutrality, including powering the electrical grid with 100% renewable energy, electrifying vehicles and appliances, improving building efficiency, changing waste management practices, and enhancing local food production.
Dedicated Funding: The city established a $1 million annual sustainability fund and sought additional funding through grants, partnerships, and new revenue sources.
Community Engagement: The planning process involved extensive community input, with over 70 public events and thousands of participants helping shape the final strategies.

Implementation of the A2Zero plan began in mid-2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, which created both challenges (budget constraints, shifted priorities) and opportunities (federal recovery funding, increased awareness of systemic vulnerabilities). By 2023, the city had made notable progress on several fronts:

Established a Community Climate Action millage providing $7 million annually for climate initiatives
Launched a 24-megawatt community solar program
Created a rental housing energy disclosure ordinance
Expanded electric vehicle charging infrastructure
Implemented a commercial benchmarking ordinance
Enhanced composting and recycling programs
Developed neighborhood-scale sustainability projects

However, achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 remains a daunting challenge, requiring unprecedented rates of change in energy systems, transportation, buildings, and consumption patterns. The city faces ongoing challenges related to funding, authority, technical feasibility, and equity considerations.

This history raises an intriguing counterfactual question: What if Ann Arbor had adopted its ambitious carbon neutrality goal and comprehensive implementation plan a decade earlier, in 2010 rather than 2020? How might the city—and potentially the broader landscape of climate action in mid-sized American cities—have developed differently?

The Point of Divergence

In this alternate timeline, the divergence occurs in 2009-2010, when a unique combination of factors creates the opportunity for more ambitious climate action in Ann Arbor:

The catalyst comes in late 2009, when Ann Arbor is selected as one of five cities nationwide for the "Climate Innovation Challenge," a $50 million initiative funded by a consortium of major foundations seeking to demonstrate that mid-sized American cities can achieve carbon neutrality. The program offers $10 million in direct funding over five years, technical assistance, and help securing additional federal and private investment.

This external opportunity coincides with local political changes. In the 2009 municipal election, a wave of environmentally-focused candidates win city council seats, creating a supermajority supportive of bold climate action. Mayor John Hieftje, who in the actual timeline supported incremental sustainability measures, sees an opportunity to establish a transformative legacy in his third term.

In February 2010, the city establishes the Ann Arbor Climate Action Task Force, comprising environmental experts, business leaders, university researchers, neighborhood representatives, and city staff. The Task Force is charged with developing a plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030—the same goal that would be adopted a decade later in the actual timeline.

After six months of intensive work, including community forums, technical analysis, and consultation with national experts, the Task Force presents "A2Carbon Zero: A Pathway to Neutrality." The City Council votes 9-2 to adopt the plan in September 2010, establishing Ann Arbor as the first mid-sized American city to commit to carbon neutrality with a comprehensive implementation strategy.

The plan includes seven key strategies that parallel those in the actual timeline's A2Zero plan, but with implementation beginning a decade earlier:

100% Renewable Energy: Transition the electrical grid to 100% renewable energy through a community choice aggregation program, large-scale solar development, and battery storage.
Electrified Buildings: Convert all buildings from natural gas to electric heating and appliances, starting with new construction and major renovations.
Mobility Transformation: Reduce vehicle miles traveled by 50% through enhanced public transit, bicycle infrastructure, and compact development while transitioning remaining vehicles to electric power.
Circular Economy: Reduce waste generation by 90% through comprehensive composting, recycling, and materials management programs.
Carbon-Neutral Development: Implement the strongest green building standards in the Midwest for new construction and major renovations.
Resilient Landscapes: Enhance carbon sequestration through urban forestry, regenerative agriculture, and green infrastructure.
Sustainable Consumption: Reduce the carbon footprint of food, goods, and services consumed within the community through education, incentives, and policy.

The plan establishes a dedicated Office of Climate Action with a director reporting directly to the city administrator, an annual budget of $2 million (1% of the city's general fund), and authority to coordinate implementation across all city departments. It also creates a community oversight board with genuine decision-making power regarding funding priorities and implementation strategies.

Implementation begins in January 2011, with initial funding from the Climate Innovation Challenge grant and a commitment to develop sustainable funding mechanisms as the program demonstrates results.

Immediate Aftermath

Early Implementation Challenges

The first three years of Ann Arbor's carbon neutrality initiative produce both significant achievements and revealing challenges:

Renewable Energy Transition: The city's attempt to establish a community choice aggregation program faces legal obstacles under Michigan's regulated utility structure. After an unsuccessful legislative effort in 2011-2012, the city pivots to a virtual power purchase agreement model, contracting with a 50-megawatt solar farm in western Michigan to offset municipal electricity use. By 2013, 40% of municipal operations are powered by renewable energy, but community-wide progress remains limited by state regulatory constraints.
Building Electrification: The city adopts the most progressive energy code in the Midwest for new construction, requiring all-electric systems in new buildings over 10,000 square feet. However, retrofitting existing buildings proves more challenging. A pilot program to convert 100 homes from natural gas to electric heating reveals higher-than-expected costs and technical complications, particularly in older homes with insufficient electrical capacity. By 2013, only 2% of existing buildings have been fully electrified.
Transportation Transformation: Early investments in bicycle infrastructure, including the city's first protected bike lanes and a bike-sharing program launched in 2012, show promising results with cycling mode share increasing from 5% to 8% by 2013. However, efforts to enhance public transit through a countywide millage fail narrowly in 2012, delaying planned service expansions. Electric vehicle adoption reaches 3% of new car sales by 2013, higher than the national average but far below the pace needed for full fleet electrification by 2030.
Waste Reduction: The expansion of curbside composting to all single-family homes in 2011 and a ban on single-use plastic bags in 2012 (later overturned by state preemption) demonstrate early progress in waste reduction. By 2013, the city's landfill diversion rate reaches 45%, up from 30% in 2010, but commercial and multi-family waste streams remain challenging to address.
Community Engagement: The initiative's high visibility generates both enthusiasm and backlash. A core group of approximately 5,000 residents (about 4% of the population) actively participates in various aspects of implementation, from neighborhood energy challenges to community solar subscriptions. However, concerns about costs and perceived overreach lead to the formation of "Affordable Ann Arbor," a citizens' group opposing specific elements of the plan.

Economic and Social Impacts

By 2014, the carbon neutrality initiative begins showing measurable economic and social effects:

Green Economy Growth: The city's commitment creates market demand for clean energy and efficiency services, leading to the formation of 15 new companies and approximately 300 new jobs in related sectors by 2014. The University of Michigan establishes a Climate Solutions Accelerator to support startups addressing key implementation challenges.
Property Values and Housing Affordability: Neighborhoods with early green infrastructure investments and energy efficiency programs see property value increases 5-7% above the city average, raising concerns about gentrification and displacement. In response, the city establishes an Energy Equity Fund in 2013 to ensure low-income residents benefit from efficiency improvements without increased housing costs.
Community Identity: Ann Arbor's national profile as a climate leader strengthens, attracting positive media coverage and visits from officials from other cities. This enhanced reputation helps the University of Michigan recruit faculty and students interested in sustainability and attracts several climate-focused conferences to the city, boosting the local economy.
Political Dynamics: The 2013 municipal election becomes a referendum on the climate initiative, with candidates divided on whether implementation is moving too quickly or not quickly enough. The results produce a more divided council (7-4 in favor of the initiative), requiring more compromise on implementation details while maintaining the overall carbon neutrality goal.

Technical and Policy Innovations

The implementation challenges drive several innovations that would not have emerged in the actual timeline until years later:

Neighborhood Energy Planning: Rather than pursuing a one-size-fits-all approach, the city develops neighborhood-specific energy transition plans based on housing stock, demographics, and existing infrastructure. The Water Hill neighborhood becomes the first "Net Zero District" with targeted investments in solar, efficiency, and district geothermal systems.
Green Rental Certification: Recognizing that 57% of Ann Arbor residents are renters, the city creates a Green Rental Certification program in 2012 that provides transparency about energy costs and efficiency while offering incentives for landlords to make improvements. By 2014, 30% of rental units participate in the program.
Climate Impact Assessment: In 2013, Ann Arbor becomes the first U.S. city to require a climate impact assessment for all major policy decisions and capital investments, similar to environmental impact statements but focused specifically on greenhouse gas implications and climate resilience.
Local Carbon Offset Program: To address emissions that cannot be eliminated in the near term, the city establishes a local carbon offset program in 2014 that funds urban forestry, regenerative agriculture on city-owned land, and energy retrofits for low-income households. This program becomes a model for other cities seeking to keep climate investment benefits within their communities.

Regional and National Influence

By 2015, Ann Arbor's early adoption of carbon neutrality goals begins influencing broader climate action:

Regional Collaboration: Neighboring communities including Ypsilanti, Dexter, and Saline adopt elements of Ann Arbor's approach, creating a regional climate action network that shares resources and coordinates implementation. Washtenaw County establishes a climate action department in 2014 modeled on Ann Arbor's office.
State Policy Advocacy: The practical challenges encountered in implementation lead Ann Arbor to become a more effective advocate for state policy changes. A coalition of cities inspired by Ann Arbor's example successfully lobbies for community solar enabling legislation in 2015, removing a key barrier to renewable energy expansion.
University-City Integration: The University of Michigan, initially pursuing separate sustainability goals, aligns its carbon neutrality target with the city's 2030 timeline in 2014 (six years earlier than in the actual timeline). This alignment creates opportunities for shared infrastructure, coordinated research, and integrated planning that benefit both institutions.
Federal Recognition: In 2015, the White House recognizes Ann Arbor's program as a "Climate Action Champion," providing priority access to federal technical assistance and grant programs. This designation helps secure an additional $15 million in federal funding for implementation between 2015-2018.

By the five-year mark in 2015, Ann Arbor has reduced community-wide emissions by approximately 20% from 2010 levels—more than double the reduction achieved during the same period in the actual timeline. While still not on pace to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, the accelerated progress and institutional capacity built during these early years position the city for more transformative changes in the second half of the decade.

Long-term Impact

Ann Arbor's Transformation by 2025

By 2025—fifteen years after adopting the carbon neutrality goal—Ann Arbor has undergone a remarkable transformation that distinguishes it from both its 2010 starting point and from the city in our actual timeline:

Energy System Revolution: The city has achieved 85% renewable electricity, compared to approximately 20% in the actual timeline. This transformation was enabled by:
- A community-owned solar utility established in 2016 that operates 100 megawatts of distributed solar generation
- A network of neighborhood-scale battery storage systems that provide resilience during outages
- A first-in-the-nation "Clean Energy Overlay District" zoning tool that streamlines renewable energy deployment
- A municipal green bond program that has raised $50 million for clean energy investments
Built Environment Transformation: The city's buildings have been substantially decarbonized:
- All new construction since 2018 has been all-electric and net-zero energy ready
- 60% of existing buildings have undergone deep energy retrofits
- District geothermal systems serve 15 neighborhoods, eliminating natural gas use in thousands of homes
- The city skyline features distinctive green roofs, solar arrays, and biophilic design elements
Mobility Revolution: Transportation patterns have fundamentally shifted:
- Public transit ridership has tripled since 2010, supported by dedicated lanes, increased frequency, and fare-free service funded by a transportation utility fee
- A comprehensive protected bicycle network connects all neighborhoods, with cycling mode share reaching 25% of all trips
- Electric vehicles constitute 50% of cars registered in the city, supported by ubiquitous charging infrastructure
- Four neighborhoods have been redesigned as "car-light districts" with limited vehicle access and repurposed street space
Circular Economy Leadership: Waste systems have been reimagined:
- The city's landfill diversion rate has reached 90%, among the highest in the nation
- A materials recovery facility established in 2017 processes recyclables locally, creating jobs and reducing transportation emissions
- A community-wide composting system produces high-quality soil amendments used in urban agriculture
- A repair and reuse economy flourishes, with fix-it clinics, tool libraries, and a materials exchange
Green Infrastructure Network: The city's landscape has been transformed:
- A comprehensive green stormwater infrastructure system manages 80% of runoff naturally
- The urban tree canopy has increased from 33% to 45%, with 100,000 new trees planted since 2010
- Residential lawns have been widely converted to native plantings, rain gardens, and food production
- The Huron River corridor has been enhanced as a carbon sink and climate resilience asset
Climate Culture: Perhaps most significantly, climate consciousness has become embedded in the city's identity and daily life:
- Climate considerations are routinely integrated into business decisions, household choices, and institutional practices
- A network of "Climate Block Captains" in every neighborhood facilitates peer-to-peer education and collective action
- Annual "Carbon Neutral Days" demonstrate the possibility of zero-emission living through community-wide participation
- Schools incorporate climate literacy and solutions throughout the curriculum

Economic and Social Outcomes

The early adoption of carbon neutrality goals has produced complex economic and social effects by 2025:

Green Economy Hub: Ann Arbor has become a nationally recognized center for climate solutions, with over 200 companies and 5,000 jobs in related sectors. The city's early adoption created first-mover advantages in emerging fields like building electrification, energy storage, and carbon-neutral materials. The University of Michigan's Climate Innovation Center, established in 2016, has spun off 40 startups and attracted $300 million in venture capital.
Cost of Living Dynamics: The comprehensive approach to building efficiency and transportation alternatives has reduced household energy and transportation costs by an average of 35% for participating residents. However, the city's enhanced reputation and quality of life have increased housing demand, exacerbating affordability challenges. In response, the city has implemented a climate-focused community land trust that maintains 1,500 permanently affordable housing units with ultra-low operating costs due to efficiency features.
Distributional Effects: Conscious attention to equity from the beginning has produced more balanced outcomes than many climate initiatives. The Energy Equity Fund, expanded in 2017, has ensured that 40% of program investments benefit low-income communities and communities of color. A "Climate Jobs" program provides training and placement in green economy positions for historically marginalized residents, with over 500 participants successfully transitioning to family-sustaining careers in clean energy, efficiency, and resilience.
Health Improvements: The transition away from fossil fuels and towards active transportation has produced measurable health benefits. By 2025, asthma rates have declined by 25%, and obesity rates have decreased by 15% compared to 2010 baselines. The city's enhanced tree canopy and green infrastructure have reduced the urban heat island effect, with summer temperature differentials between Ann Arbor and surrounding areas decreasing from 8°F to 3°F.
Resilience Dividends: Investments in distributed energy, green infrastructure, and community networks have enhanced resilience to climate impacts and other disruptions. During a major ice storm in 2023 that caused regional power outages lasting a week, Ann Arbor's neighborhood resilience centers with solar+storage systems provided critical services to residents, demonstrating the co-benefits of the carbon neutrality investments.

Policy and Governance Innovation

Ann Arbor's early adoption of ambitious climate goals has driven significant innovations in municipal governance:

Carbon Budget: In 2018, Ann Arbor becomes the first U.S. city to establish a formal carbon budget alongside its financial budget. All departments receive carbon allocations that decline annually, creating accountability for emissions reductions across city operations. This approach is later adopted by dozens of other municipalities.
Climate Democracy: The city pioneers new models of democratic engagement in climate action, including participatory budgeting for climate investments, citizen assemblies on challenging transition issues, and neighborhood climate councils with delegated authority for local implementation decisions. These innovations help maintain public support through difficult transition phases.
Cross-Sectoral Integration: Rather than treating climate as a separate policy domain, Ann Arbor develops mechanisms to integrate climate considerations into all aspects of governance. By 2020, all city departments have climate action plans with specific responsibilities, metrics, and resources. This integration approach becomes a model for other cities seeking to mainstream climate action.
Data-Driven Implementation: The city establishes a sophisticated climate data infrastructure that provides real-time monitoring of emissions, energy use, and program impacts. An open data portal allows researchers, entrepreneurs, and community groups to develop innovative solutions based on actual performance metrics rather than projections.
Regional Governance Innovation: Ann Arbor's leadership catalyzes new regional governance structures for climate action. In 2022, Washtenaw County voters approve the creation of a Regional Climate Authority with dedicated funding and regulatory authority across jurisdictional boundaries—a model that addresses the mismatch between municipal boundaries and the systems that drive emissions.

National and Global Influence

By 2025, Ann Arbor's early climate leadership has influenced far beyond its boundaries:

Policy Diffusion: Elements of Ann Arbor's approach have been adopted by over 100 mid-sized cities across the United States. The "Ann Arbor Model" of comprehensive, equity-centered carbon neutrality planning becomes a recognized framework in urban sustainability circles. The city's innovative policies—particularly its carbon budget, neighborhood energy planning, and climate impact assessment—are widely replicated.
Implementation Knowledge: The practical experience gained through early implementation creates valuable knowledge about effective strategies, common barriers, and successful solutions. Ann Arbor establishes the Mid-Size City Climate Action Network in 2018, which grows to include 75 cities sharing implementation resources, joint procurement opportunities, and policy advocacy.
Federal Policy Influence: Ann Arbor's demonstrated success influences federal climate policy during the Biden administration. The city's mayor testifies before Congress in 2021 about the local climate action model, and several key staff members join federal agencies to help design national programs based on Ann Arbor's experience. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 includes a "Local Climate Innovation" program directly inspired by Ann Arbor's approach.
Private Sector Transformation: Companies based in or operating in Ann Arbor adapt to the city's climate leadership by developing new business models and practices. These innovations then spread through corporate networks to operations in other locations. For example, a national grocery chain pilots a zero-waste store format in Ann Arbor in 2019 that becomes its standard model for new stores nationwide by 2023.
University Transformation: The University of Michigan's early alignment with the city's carbon neutrality goal transforms its research priorities, operations, and educational programs. By 2025, the university has established itself as a global leader in applied climate solutions, attracting $500 million in research funding and reorienting dozens of academic programs toward sustainability challenges.

Progress Toward Carbon Neutrality

By 2025, Ann Arbor has reduced community-wide emissions by 65% compared to 2010 levels—far beyond the approximately 25% reduction achieved in the actual timeline. While the city will not achieve full carbon neutrality by its original 2030 target, it is on track to reach that goal by 2035, still 15 years ahead of most comparable cities.

The remaining emissions are concentrated in challenging sectors:

Embodied Carbon: While operational emissions from buildings have been dramatically reduced, the embodied carbon in construction materials remains significant. The city is pioneering the use of mass timber, carbon-sequestering concrete, and reused materials to address this challenge.
Industrial Processes: Certain industrial facilities within city boundaries have specialized processes that are difficult to electrify with current technology. The city is working with these facilities on custom decarbonization roadmaps.
Consumption-Based Emissions: The carbon footprint of goods and services consumed within Ann Arbor but produced elsewhere remains substantial. The city's "Low-Carbon Consumption" initiative is making progress through education, incentives, and procurement policies, but full neutrality in this area requires broader systemic changes.
Regional Transportation: While transportation within the city has been largely decarbonized, commuter traffic from surrounding communities remains a significant emissions source. Regional transit initiatives and electric vehicle incentives are addressing this challenge, but progress depends on cooperation across jurisdictional boundaries.

Despite these remaining challenges, Ann Arbor's early adoption of carbon neutrality goals has positioned it far ahead of where it would have been in the actual timeline. The city has demonstrated that mid-sized American cities can achieve dramatic emissions reductions while enhancing quality of life, economic vitality, and social equity—providing a roadmap for other communities to follow.

Expert Opinions

Dr. Shayna Wilson, Director of the Urban Climate Action Research Center at the University of Michigan, observes:

"What's most striking about this counterfactual Ann Arbor is how it challenges our assumptions about the pace of climate transitions. In the actual timeline, we often assume that technological limitations are the primary barriers to rapid decarbonization. This alternate history suggests that governance innovation, early commitment, and sustained implementation may be even more important than technological breakthroughs. By starting a decade earlier, Ann Arbor was able to build institutional capacity, community support, and implementation knowledge that accelerated progress far beyond what we've seen in reality. The city encountered the same technical challenges we face in our timeline—intermittent renewables, building electrification costs, behavior change resistance—but addressed them earlier and more systematically. This scenario suggests that the seemingly insurmountable barriers to climate action in our actual timeline may be more about political will and implementation capacity than fundamental technical or economic constraints. It also highlights the importance of external catalysts—in this case, the Climate Innovation Challenge funding—in creating space for ambitious action that might otherwise be politically difficult to initiate."

Carlos Moreno, urban planner and originator of the "15-Minute City" concept, notes:

"This alternate Ann Arbor demonstrates something I've long argued: climate action and quality of life enhancement can be mutually reinforcing rather than competing priorities. What's particularly interesting is how the carbon neutrality goal drove a fundamental rethinking of urban systems and spaces that improved daily life for residents. The transformation of neighborhoods into '15-minute communities' with local services, distributed energy, and reduced car dependency created more vibrant, connected, and resilient places. The 'car-light districts' reclaimed valuable urban space for human interaction, play, and nature. The comprehensive bicycle network and enhanced public transit reduced stress and increased physical activity. These changes would have been beneficial regardless of climate concerns, but the carbon neutrality framework provided the political momentum and resources to implement them at scale and pace. This counterfactual suggests that framing climate action around tangible quality of life improvements—rather than abstract global benefits or distant future impacts—may be key to building and sustaining the public support needed for transformative change."

Janelle Scott, Executive Director of the Climate Equity Network and former Ann Arbor City Councilmember, comments:

"The equity dimensions of this alternate timeline deserve particular attention. In our actual experience with climate initiatives, equity considerations are often added after the fact, leading to programs that primarily benefit privileged communities while imposing burdens on vulnerable populations. This counterfactual Ann Arbor demonstrates the value of centering equity from the beginning—through the Energy Equity Fund, participatory governance mechanisms, and targeted investments in frontline communities. The early focus on rental housing—often overlooked in climate programs despite housing the majority of lower-income residents—was particularly important. The climate-focused community land trust that maintained affordable housing with low operating costs represents an innovative solution to the green gentrification challenge that has undermined many well-intentioned sustainability initiatives. While this alternate Ann Arbor didn't perfectly resolve the tension between climate action and affordability, it developed more effective approaches than we've seen in most actual cities. This suggests that the equity challenges of climate transition are not inevitable but rather the result of specific policy choices and governance structures that can be designed differently."