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...It is extremely unlikely that Washington will ever supply a coherent energy policy, regardless of who takes the White House in November. That's because serious policies to change energy patterns require a broad effort across many disconnected government agencies and political groups. Higher energy efficiency for buildings and appliances, a major energy use area, requires new federal and state standards. Higher efficiency for vehicles requires federal mandates that always meet stiff opposition in Detroit. A more aggressive program to replace oil with biofuels requires policy decisions that affect farmers and crop patterns-yet another part of Washington's policymaking apparatus, with its own political geometry. New power plants that generate electricity without high emissions of warming gases require reliable subsidies from both federal and state governments, because such plants are much more costly than conventional power sources. Approvals for these new plants require favorable decisions by state regulators, most of whom are not yet focused on the task. Expanded use of nuclear power requires support from still another constellation of administrators and political interests. And so on.
Other publications by this author
- Putting Rich Farmers First
- Blowhard in Chief
- A Realistic Policy on International Carbon Offsets
- Asia's Achilles Heel
- The Oil Paradox
- Smoke and Mirrors
- Hot Air
- What Resource Wars?
- Making Carbon Markets Work
- Fragmented Carbon Markets and Reluctant Nations: Implications for the Design of Effective Architectures
Author
- David Victor
- Stanford Law School
- David.Victor@stanford.edu
- 650 724.1712