Ency. of Public Administration and Public Policy pre-pub accepted for publication Susanne Moser 1 Climate Change Adaptation Policies Susanne C. Moser Susanne Moser Research & Consulting and Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University Santa Cruz, California, U.S.A. Abstract In the second decade of the 21 st century, adaptation to anthropogenic climate change in the United States is occurring at local, state, tribal and federal levels of government, reflecting where adaptation needs are matched by existing policy-making opportunities. This has resulted in an uncoordinated and diverse patchwork of adaptation policies to date. Common approaches to adaptation at state, local and tribal levels are described and illustrated with selected examples. General opportunities for, and examples of, federal adaptation policy-making efforts are also discussed. Examples of self-organization among different stakeholders at the regional level as well as a discussion of likely challenges to future U.S. adaptation policy-making conclude the entry. Introduction The early years of the 21 st century have seen a significant number of disastrous climatic events across the U.S. – including severe hurricanes and storms, droughts, extreme heat events, floods and wildfires, costing tens of billions of dollars in damages, too many lives, and significant impacts on the day-to-day activities, well-being, and livelihoods of Americans [1] . Such devastating occurrences bring attention not only to the emerging evidence of a changing climate, but to past failures in disaster preparedness, land use, environmental, economic and social policy. They reveal a deficit in society between the adaptation needed to adequately meet the challenges of a variable climate and that which is being implemented [2] .