state energy policies
Election 2020: The NC Governor’s race
A tight race pits a moderate Democrat against an anti-regulatory Republican.
Because of North Carolina’s unusual electoral scheme, it has a Democratic Governor (Roy Cooper) and a Republican Lieutenant Governor (Dan Forest). The two are now battling for the governorship. One of the big dividing lines is offshore drilling. Cooper is against oil drilling off the North Carolina coast, while Forest is in favor. Roy Cooper. …
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CONTINUE READINGStates Rally Around Renewables
States have ignored Trump to promote clean energy within their borders.
CLEE published a survey of state energy policies through 2017. The trend toward renewables has continued in 2018. Even after nearly two years of the Trump Presidency, states haven’t given up. Instead, they’re moving forward aggressively. If anything, Trump seems to have stimulated these states to try even harder. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s …
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CONTINUE READINGFour Governor’s Races and the Environment
Here are four of the races that will help drive state energy and environmental policies.
There are a surprising number of governor’s seats in play in this election, with many ranked as toss-ups. After looking at ratings by different experts, I’ve picked four elections as especially interesting. As you’ll see, there were major differences between candidates in these raceson environmental and energy issues. Besides showing yet again why elections matter– …
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CONTINUE READINGGeorgia: A Peach of an Energy Policy
Georgia’s energy policy is much better than you’d expect from its Southern location and politics.
Georgia is a bit of a surprise. It is a leader in solar energy in a region that generally has not been very friendly to renewables. It currently ranks 9th nationally in total solar installations (and even more surprisingly, ranked 3rd in 2016 in newly added solar). What’s also surprising is that Georgia has done this …
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CONTINUE READINGPennsylvania’s Backward Energy Policy
PA’s policies look more like the upper South than the mid-Atlantic.
Pennsylvania has a fairly pitiful profile in terms of renewable energy. As of 2015, it got about 4% of its power from renewables, and only about half of that from wind and solar. Nearly all of the remainder was from nuclear (37%), coal (30%) and gas (28%). Perhaps not coincidentally, the state was the nation’s …
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CONTINUE READINGBringing South Carolina into the Sunshine
A dedicated state legislator, against the odds, opened the door to solar energy in the Palmetto State.
Solar energy is poised to make an appearance in the state, in good part due to the efforts of a single Republican state legislator. That will be a big change: South Carolina has had essentially no wind or solar power, although nuclear accounts for half of its electricity. The state senator, Chauncey (“Greg”) Gregory, hails …
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CONTINUE READINGFlorida’s Retro Energy Policy
It may be called the Sunshine State, but you wouldn’t know that from the lack of solar.
Florida is the paradigm of the ostrich with its head in the sand. It may be the most vulnerable state to climate change. Yet, the state government is assiduously ignoring the problem though some cities and counties and South Florida are keenly aware of the risks. Even after Hurricane Irma, the governor still professed complete …
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