Perspective

Renewable Energy in the 21st Century:

State involvement in promoting renewable technologies has profound implications for the future of the energy industry.

 

Election-year posturing seems to have prevented the federal government from reaching consensus on a number of energy issues ranging from standard market design to global warming, MBTE to Kyoto, ANWR to nuclear waste disposal. At the precise moment the federal government appears so stymied, state governments throughout the United States have avoided the pitfalls of partisan politics as governors and legislatures, both Democrat and Republican alike, have united to take significant actions to promote new energy technologies and renewable energy. The policies, programs, and regulations being adopted at the state level are making a real difference and foreshadow the powerful political forces that underlie energy issues in the 21st century.