Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States (Studies in Postwar American Political Development)

Short Circuiting Policy examines clean energy policies to understand why US states are not on track to meet the climate crisis. After two decades of leadership, American states are slipping in their commitment to transition away from dirty fossil fuels toward cleaner energy sources, including wind and solar. The author argues that organized combat between advocate and opponent interest groups is central to explaining why US states have stopped expanding and even started weakening their renewable energy policies. Fossil fuel companies and electric utilities played a key role in spreading climate denial. Now, they have turned to climate delay, working to block clean energy policies from passing or being implemented and driving retrenchment. Clean energy advocates typically lack sufficient power to overcome electric utilities’ opposition to climate policy. Short Circuiting Policy builds on policy feedback theory, showing the conditions under which retrenchment is more likely. Depending on their relative political influence, interest groups will work to drive retrenchment either directly by working with legislators, their staff, and regulators or indirectly through the parties, the public, and the courts. Also, the likely effects of policies are not easy to predict—an effect termed “the fog of enactment.” But over time, federated interest groups can learn to anticipate policies’ consequences through networks that cross state lines. Examining US energy policy over the past century, and Texas’s, Kansas’s, Arizona’s, and Ohio’s clean energy laws in the twenty-first century, the author shows how opponents have thwarted progress on climate policy. "Short Circuiting Policy examines clean energy policies to understand why US states are not on track to meet the climate crisis. After two decades of leadership, American states are slipping in their commitment to transitioning away from dirty fossil fuels towards cleaner energy sources, including wind and solar. I argue that organized combat between advocate and opponent interest groups is central to explaining why US states have stopped expanding and even started weakening their renewable energy policies. Fossil fuel companies and electric utilities played a key role in spreading climate denial. Now, they have turned to climate delay, working to block clean energy policies from passing or being implemented, and driving retrenchment. Clean energy advocates typically lack sufficient power to overcome electric utilities' opposition to climate policy. Short Circuiting Policy builds on policy feedback theory, showing the conditions under which retrenchment is more likely. Depending on their relative political influence, interest groups will work to drive retrenchment either directly by working with legislators, their staff and regulators; or, indirectly through the parties, the public and the courts. I also argue that policies likely effects are not easy to predict-an effect I term "the fog of enactment." But overtime, federated interest groups can learn to anticipate policies' consequences through networks that cross states-lines. Examining US energy policy over the past century, and Texas, Kansas, Arizona and Ohio's clean energy laws over the past two decades, I show how opponents have thwarted progress on climate policy"-- Provided by publisher In 1999, Texas passed a landmark clean energy law, beginning a groundswell of new policies that promised to make the US a world leader in renewable energy. As Leah Stokes shows in Short Circuiting Policy, however, that policy did not lead to momentum in Texas, which failed to implement its solar laws or clean up its electricity system. Examining clean energy laws in Texas, Kansas, Arizona, and Ohio over a thirty-year time frame, Stokes argues that organized combat between advocate and opponent interest groups is central to explaining why states are not on track to address the climate crisis. She tells the political history of our energy institutions, explaining how fossil fuel companies and electric utilities have promoted climate denial and delay. Stokes further explains the limits of policy feedback theory, showing the ways that interest groups drive retrenchment through lobbying, public opinion, political parties and the courts. More than a history of renewable energy policy in modern America, Short Circuiting Policy offers a bold new argument about how the policy process works, and why seeming victories can turn into losses when the opposition has enough resources to roll back laws. When new policies fail to create a new politics -- An institutional history of electricity politics and climate inaction -- Policy feedback : networked and influential advocates use the public to drive clean energy leadership in Texas -- A direct line to legislators and regulators : fossil fuel corporations and the limitations of Texas's renewable energy laws -- Retrenchment by a thousand cuts : fossil fuel opponents drive polarization on clean energy in Kansas -- Regulatory capture : electric utilities retrench Arizona's net metering laws -- When the fog of enactment lifts : late action brings rapid retrenchment of Ohio's renewable energy laws Short Circuiting Policy examines climate and energy politics over several decades to understand why US states are not on track to meet the climate crisis. It argues that electric utilities and clean energy companies battle over policy, and their relative power explains why US states have stopped expanding-and even started weakening-their renewable energy policies. The book explains key US clean energy policies, including Renewable Portfolio Standards and netmetering, in detail