Full Title: Clean Energy Champions: The Importance of State Programs and Policies
Author(s): Warren Leon
Publisher(s): Clean Energy States Alliance
Publication Date: June 1, 2015
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The clean energy industry is growing today in great part because states across the country have embraced clean energy and put in place beneficial programs and policies. Without the states, there would not be nearly as much electricity generation from wind, solar, biomass, and other clean energy technologies. Moreover, there would be far fewer clean energy jobs. Three pillars—the states, the federal government, and the private sector—have all played crucial roles in starting to reshape the nation’s electricity system over the past two decades. By showing how state policies and programs have been essential, this report makes the case that the state pillar needs to remain strong. The states have pursued many paths to the robust clean energy expansion underway today. Because the federal government has not dictated a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach, the states have innovated and experimented with their own clean energy policies and programs. This diversity has served the needs of the states and it bodes well for continued clean energy expansion in the future.