Climate Change Policy & the Role of States

A major CESA objective is to guide new federal and state climate policy initiatives to accelerate the commercialization and deployment of clean energy and low carbon technologies. Climate change policy has the potential to provide a dramatic increase in funding for renewable energy. Whether through cap-and-trade auction proceeds, allowance set-asides, or carbon tax revenue, significant new funding will be available to fund advanced of EE and RE technologies. As states, regions, Congress, and a new Administration explore and pursue new climate stabilization strategies, there is a significant opportunity to advance a more decentralized, state-primacy strategy towards low carbon technology. With DOE funding, this CESA project is examining and evaluating the best practices at the state and federal level for transforming clean energy markets (including evaluation of the effectiveness of various financing mechanisms, institutional management structures, new funding sources, and possibilities for providing states with the resources and collaboration opportunities) to drive large-scale deployment
of renewable and energy efficiency resources, in the context of new federal climate policies.