This study investigates the effects of natural disasters on municipalities’ climate change policies. Although most theoretical frameworks on policy adoption highlight the roles of extreme events as exogenous factors influencing policy change, most studies tend to focus on the effects of extreme events on policy change at the national level. Additionally, the existing theoretical frameworks explaining local policy adoption and public service provision do not pay attention to the roles of extreme events in local governments’ policy choices. To fill those gaps, this study explores the roles of natural disasters on municipal governments’ climate change policies. It does this by applying the theory of focusing events to local climate mitigation and adaptation actions. Based on the framework, this dissertation develops and tests hypotheses to examine the effects of natural disasters on municipalities’ climate mitigation and adaptation policies. The study uses 2010 National League of Cities (NLC) sustainability surveys and the 2010 International City/County Management Association (ICMA) sustainability survey to test the hypotheses. Analytical results show that floods and droughts influence local climate change policies and suggest that local governments can take advantage of extreme events when initiating a policy change.