Governors Launch a New Offensive in the Fight for Clean Energy

You don’t have to care about climate change to want more clean energy.

That’s the message a group of 17 Republican and Democratic governors sent by signing the Accord for a Clean Energy Future on Tuesday.  The agreement, which calls for states to work together to modernize their power grids and expand wind and solar energy, doesn’t even mention the phrase “climate change.” Instead, it touts a slew of other motivations for a greener grid: new jobs, grid resilience, less air pollution, and more choice for consumers.  By focusing specifically on the economic benefits of locally sourced clean energy, state-level advocates hope to sidestep the partisan rancor over climate change that has stymied clean policies at the national level.

California Governor Jerry Brown, one of the signatories, said in a call with reporters that the genius of the accord is its ability to appeal to governors of different political philosophies.

“We think we can make major strides forward and bypass all the bickering in Washington, where you see this very toxic partisanship,” he said.  “We’re going to leave that behind and work on what we can work on, and that’s the renewable energy accord.”

A new national group hopes to make it easier to get solar power when it can’t go on your roof.

The announcement came a week after the Supreme Court put a hold on President Barack Obama’s new clean-energy regulations until the courts weigh in, which could take a few years. With federal government stuck in the mud, some states see a chance to lead the way for themselves.  That’s fitting, because clean energy ultimately happens at the local level: on rooftops, in community solar gardens, at utility-scale wind and solar plants.  Local knowledge matters for choosing the right incentives to adopt clean energy, and states have been experimenting with these approaches for years.  For instance, California’s clean energy policies have carried it to dominance, with more utility-scale solar than every other state combined.

States can go further down this road by working together, Brown said.  Specifically, he said he hopes states can team up for bulk purchases of zero-emission or highly efficient fleet vehicles, lobby the federal government for more research and development funding, and build a sophisticated regional grid for sharing the surplus power that arises when renewables gain a larger share of the energy portfolio.

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