-
Apr 4, 2012
Posted by Mike Rann
Most attention in public policy focuses on what
happens at the national level. That's
inevitable but states are often test beds for
reform. In this series of blogs, I will look at
what states can do to set the policy agenda.
Nowhere has the leadership role of states been
more apparent than with climate change policy.
That was certainly true in Australia until
recently, with former conservative Prime
Minister John Howard aligning himself with
President Bush in first denying the scientific
evidence for global warming and then decrying
action to address climate change as contrary to
the national interest. It was up to the states
to fill the policy void.
In the US, we saw strong leadership by states
such as California in embracing renewable
energy and tougher emissions standards. We also
saw clusters of states working together to
establish emissions trading schemes such as the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative involving
Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode
Island and Vermont. These states have not only
capped but will reduce CO˛ emissions from their
power stations 10% by 2018.
States also took the lead in Australia, one of
the nations at greatest risk from global
warming with the potential loss of high
production farming land as well as serious
threats to our precious water resources. Action
by states makes sense given the majority of
decisions affecting both the environment and
our climate are made at the regional level.
While Premier of South Australia, I was also
Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change,
as well as Minister for Economic Development. I
wanted to demonstrate that a reformist
government could be pro jobs and pro growth
while at the same time being a leader in
environmental protection. Through my role with
The Climate Group and its States and Regions
Network, I have worked closely with state
governments internationally, including a number
of US states, to share and sometimes steal
policy ideas that work.
When I was elected Premier in 2002 there was
not one single operating wind turbine in South
Australia. Today, 26% of electricity generated
in my state comes from wind, edging out coal
fired power for the first time. How did this
happen? We streamlined our regulatory
environment to make it easier for energy
companies to gain quicker approvals to build
wind farms in order to take advantage of
Federal schemes and quotas. This didn't happen
in other states where the wind was strong but
not the political will.
We also campaigned aggressively to convince
renewable energy companies we were hungry for
their business and would make them welcome. We
introduced payroll tax rebates for the
construction of large-scale renewable energy
projects. Now, with only 7.2% of Australia's
population, we have 54% of the nation's
installed wind power and about 90% of
Australia's geothermal hot rocks development.
South Australia reached the Federal
Government's target of 20% of electricity
coming from renewables by 2020, nine years
ahead of schedule. We also had a 15% drop in
emissions during the past five years despite
strong economic and employment growth.
Inspired by matching Governor Schwarzenegger's
ambitious target, we are now on track to reach
33% of our power coming from renewables by
2020. With the help of Stanford Climatologist,
the late Stephen Schneider, we passed
Australia's first climate change legislation
which, in addition to setting targets, provided
a framework for voluntary agreements with
industry sectors to reduce their emissions.
Groups as diverse as the cement industry, the
Anglican Church, local government and even
regions became partners. First to sign up was
our wine industry which was keen to demonstrate
to customers in the US and Europe that it could
not only produce world class wines but be
environmentally conscious doing so.
South Australia also passed Australia's first
solar feed-in legislation, which established a
scheme that paid householders a premium rate
for power generated from their roof top
installations. This was successful in
encouraging a more rapid take up of solar power
than in other states. We also followed
California and Washington state by changing
emissions standards to effectively preclude the
building of future coal fired power stations;
again followed California in setting tougher
efficiency standards for air conditioners that
cause massive spikes in electricity usage on
the hottest days, and following my visit to New
York, we are looking at ‘cool roofs' to deliver
significant reductions in peak energy demand.
By sharing ideas, sub-national governments in
the US, Australia and elsewhere have proven to
the public and to federal policy makers that
leadership and progress is possible. This has
produced dividends in Australia with the
national government of Prime Minister Julia
Gillard embracing a new carbon pricing era
designed to cut CO˛ pollution, drive investment
in clean energy and make our nation's biggest
polluters pay for the greenhouse gas emissions
they create.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Center for National Policy.
Printable Version
SUBSCRIBE TO THIS AUTHOR