With the change of administration on Friday, speculation on the future of the US Clean Power Plan (CPP) is running high. During the campaign, the President-elect made his views on climate change – it’s a hoax perpetrated by China – perfectly clear. And since the election, he has appointed people to key agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy (DOE), who have by word or action expressed similar scepticism.
Trump’s transition team has made a very public inquiry into the current work of DOE, targeting for special investigation officials that have been engaged in activities related to climate change. There is every reason, therefore, to conclude that the next president will cease efforts dedicated to mitigating global warming. Foremost among them will be abandonment of the Clean Power Plan.
The power of states
Climate change is, at its core, an energy problem, a problem of how we produce and use energy. The states have long recognised this and have led the clean energy revolution. The federal government has never set a comprehensive, coherent national energy policy.
States have developed and implemented programmes for financing renewable technologies, until those technologies are able to compete on fair terms in the market. They have created new markets to provide not only electricity, but also the unique services – flexibility and balancing – that electricity production needs, because kilowatt-hours cannot yet be easily or economically stored.
They have seen how technological change has made small-scale, distributed clean energy a reality, and made it possible for consumers to manage their demand in ways that benefit the system and save money.
Source: Eco-Business, January 20-States, not Trump, will decide future of US energy