States Regulating Energy Use

[cal04]

Blue' States Tackling Energy On Their Own
Federal Efficiency Rules Fall Short, Some Say

Democratic-leaning states increasingly are regulating energy use and emissions, working around a GOP-controlled federal government that state officials say has not done enough. The states are creating energy efficiency requirements for light bulbs and household appliances, limiting power plant and automobile output linked to global warming, and requiring the use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar. Leading the effort are "blue" states that voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential election. Even some of those states that have Republican governors, such as California and Connecticut, are making their own rules.

"In a way, the left is controlling that agenda," said Amy Myers Jaffe, associate director of the energy program at Rice University in Houston. "They're just implementing it at the community and state level." Jaffe and other analysts said some of the policies would have to be adopted nationally to have a significant impact on the environment and energy consumption. But with other policies, such as the auto emissions limits, they said a sufficient number of big states are adopting regulations to make a significant difference nationally. "If all these giant-population states do this, does it matter that we don't have a national policy?" Jaffe asked.

Seven states that voted Democratic in 2004's presidential election have signed on to a regional plan to restrict power plant emissions. Eleven states that went Democratic have adopted, or are in the process of adopting, automobile tailpipe emissions requirements, which face a court challenge before they can be implemented. Nine of the 10 states that have adopted appliance efficiency regulations also voted Democratic. Requirements that a portion of electricity come from renewable sources have caught on beyond the Democratic-leaning states. Seven states that went Republican in 2004 have joined 13 Democratic-leaning states and the District of Columbia in setting those rules.

Though the new regulations are not necessarily partisan, the activists behind them say their adoption requires lawmakers and constituents who are concerned about global warming and energy-conservation -- issues that Democrats often emphasize. The Bush administration welcomes state efforts "as long as they do not put Americans out of jobs or move emissions from one state to another or one country to another," said Michele St. Martin, a spokeswoman for the White House Council on Environmental Quality. State officials say their constituents are demanding new limits on pollution and energy consumption. "What is frustrating is that these things aren't being done on a national basis," said Maine Gov. John E. Baldacci (D).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/21/AR2006012101067.html

[amitten]

1. So, while the "adults" are in charge, the Democrats behind the

scenes are doing the real work. Figures.

[mom cat]

2. Massachusetts needs a new BLUE govenor so we can join in on more of this.

[NJCher]

3. Thought this should be the strategy in 2000

As soon as bush stole the election, this was my first thought. What would be an effective way to run policy our way? Being from a blue state, I could see we could make a great deal of what bush would do ineffective and irrelevant through skillful leadership at the state level.

Practically speaking, I think this what is going to happen all over the country. The states have already had to step in because of bush's debacle with prescription drugs.

And look at Katrina. The federal government is next to useless. Consequently states will band together in areas of the country where they are like-minded. Pretty soon we will have little "nation states." I can see, for example, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, possibly Maryland and part of Pennsylvania being a "nation state." Perhaps add Vermont, Massachussetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Rhode Island, Delaware, too.

Meanwhile, bushco will continue to steal elections. They will bankrupt America through their financial irresponsibility.

The world will come crashing down and the only venue for responsibility will be the state leadership. Pretty soon it will become evident that we really don't need the federal government, especially if it is going to be the liability that it is now. "Nation state" citizens will balk at paying any federal tax bills because there is no "return."

This will especially be true in the northeast because we put more money out than we ever see come back in terms of federal taxes. There is no reason whatsoever that we blue states need to be financing red states.




Cher

[rfkrfk]

4. nice to see states taking their just role in this matter n/t