Kate Galbraith with the New York Times' blog Green Inc. is reporting that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order on Tuesday that increases the renewable energy requirements for the state. In doing so, the governor took an anti-protectionist stance in that clean energy will be imported from other states if that is what it takes to hold down electricity prices.Schwarzenegger stated, “I am totally against protectionist policies because it never works . . . You have to understand that we get our water from outside California. We get it from the Colorado River, for instance. Why can we get the water from the Colorado River but we can’t get renewable energy from outside the state? We get most of our cars from outside the state; why can’t we get renewable energy?"
The governor's stance is counter to recent efforts by the state legislature to boost requirements for solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources because these bills would require "a large amount of generation to come from within California [.]" The governor's position is also contrary to some of the current renewable energy mandates in other states. Galbraith reports that Ohio has a requirement that "half of its renewable energy mandate to be met with in-state production." In order not to run afoul of the Constitution's commerce clause, other states have taken more subtle approaches to ensure in-state producers have adequate market access.
Justin Barnes of the North Carolina Solar Center told Galbraith in an e-mail message '"a state will simply apply a multiplier to renewable energy certificates produced from in-state resources.' Examples include Colorado and Missouri; both have a 1.25 multiplier for in-state resources in their renewable energy requirements." Of course the rationale these policy makers are following is the notion that imported energy will prevent in-state development of renewable sources and stunt the growth of so-called "green-collar jobs."
Still, while the United States Congress tries to figure out how to pass a renewable energy bill with a strong climate change policy, states and local governments are moving ahead with renewable energy action on their own.
To read the Galbraith post in Green Inc., click here.
To read Galbraith's post on the order in California that appeared in yesterday's Green Inc., click here.
To read Galbraith's post on the order in California that appeared in yesterday's Green Inc., click here.
Posted:9/16/09
