January 22, 2006
CEDING POWER:
'Blue' States Tackling Energy On Their Own: Federal Efficiency Rules Fall Short, Some Say (Justin Blum, January 22, 2006, Washington Post)
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.
California alone can drive this policy if the GOP won't get out in front nationally.
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 22, 2006 9:07 AM
Instead of blathering it's about time they did something about it. The rest will come along eventually, when and where it makes sense to them.
The marketplace for petrofuel is no longer controlled by market price alone, but by geopolitics as well. If the Republicans won't act to reduce our dependency, unhook us if you will, the Democrats or a third party will.
Much of WW2 was strategically focused on oil. Our current Islamicist threat is really about oil, in it's genesis and in it's developing worldwide strategy.
"Is anybody listening?"
Posted by: Genecis at January 22, 2006 11:37 AMThe Democrats have been thwarting alternate energy for decades. But for leftwing alarmists we'd be getting almost all our electricity from nuclear power and our own coal, oil and gas deposits.
We should have gone off Middle East oil a long time ago, but as they say, better late than never and no time like the present.