How the California Electricity Crisis Generated a Green Wave

An Insider's Account
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-032-84321-6
Verlag: Taylor & Francis

Buch, Englisch, 214 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 476 g

Reihe: Routledge Environmental History

This book provides the definitive account of a decade-long transformation of energy policy in California with rippling consequences. The author, a state government “insider” during much of this period, tells a story informed by personal experience, access to the key actors of the time (both then and now), and extensive research.

California’s risky experiment in deregulating the state’s electricity market in the 1990s, resulting in manipulation from unscrupulous energy providers and necessitating government action, laid the foundation for a greener grid and greater energy efficiency in the early 2000s and beyond. The book follows the state’s energy journey through Democratic Governor Gray Davis’s administration and his Republican successor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s time in office, providing a detailed behind-the-scenes account. It highlights how this period influenced broader discussions of energy policy in the U.S., culminating in President Barack Obama pledging bold action and securing $90 billion for clean energy programs in the 2009 “stimulus” bill, the largest single “green” investment in history at that point in time. The energy crisis provided a springboard for green growth by discrediting deregulation, elevating public support, and establishing a political pathway for a growing array of sustainable energy advocates.

This book engagingly balances policy considerations and political drama to reveal the untold details of how the electricity crisis paved the way for key climate and clean energy policies and offers unprecedented access to archival material from the Davis administration era. It will be a must-read for energy policymakers, researchers, and environmental historians.

Zielgruppe

Academic and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Schuparra, Kurt

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltpolitik, Umweltprotokoll
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Umwelt- und Gesundheitspolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Prosperity Fades into a Power Crisis 2. The “Deregulation” that Paved the Way to Disaster 3. The State Takes Over as the Market Implodes  4. Going It Alone: California Gets a Cold Shoulder from the White House and the FERC  5. Cleaning Up and Looking Ahead: The Renewable Energy “Hedge” Takes Shape  6. Davis’ Demise and Arnold’s Rise: Schwarzenegger Touts Deregulation and Green Energy  7. The Global Warming Solutions Act Puts a Capstone on a Tumultuous Ten-Year Transformation  8. The End of a Foundational Green Decade and the Beginning of a Challenging Path Forward

Über Autor(innen)

Kurt Schuparra was Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of California Governor Gray Davis and later served as his Deputy Secretary for Policy at the state Environmental Protection Agency. In 2004 he worked in the state legislature as a policy consultant and in 2007 became a government affairs advisor in the private sector.