'Blue' States Tackling Energy On Their Own

[kurth]

'Blue' States Tackling Energy On Their Own
Federal Efficiency Rules Fall Short, Some Say
By Justin Blum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 22, 2006; A01

Democratic-leaning states increasingly are regulating energy use and emissions, working around a GOP-controlled federal government that state officials say has not done enough. 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."

<snip>

Local officials -- tired of waiting on the federal government to beef up its own pollution-control rules -- say they have acted prudently in attempting to take charge of what comes out of the tailpipes and smokestacks in their states. "The federal standards are simply not good enough," said Gina McCarthy, commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection. "If we can't get the federal government to act, then we have to take action in any way we can."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/21/AR2006012101067.html

[KitSileya]

1. Good!

This is excellent news. They're not letting themselves be stopped by the repukes, and have found a way to circumvent them. I hope more Democrats and other concerned citizens take this lesson to heart. Not all hope is out just because the Repukes control the federal government.