GREEN GROWTH: FROM RELIGION TO REALITY - Sustainia

Chapter 53.4.1 Energy industryGiven Colorado's extraction industries, it should not besurprising that there was significant initial resistance tolow-carbon legislations from energy industry stakeholders.The RPS was rejected by Colorado's Republican controlledsenate twice in 2003 and 2004, before Amd 37passed as a ballot initiative.Xcel Energy, the most influential utility company inColorado, opposed the 10% RPS in the beginning, butquickly had a change of heart and ultimately supportedthe increase of the RPS, first to 20% and then to 30%. Xcelrealized that it would not be difficult to meet the 20% target,as federal tax credits after 2008 made wind energyaffordable (Minard 2010). With Colorado's significantwind potential, improving technologies, and increasingfossil fuel prices, wind energy may become competitivefaster than envisioned. In fact, as early as 2001, Colorado'sPublic Utilities Commission ordered Xcel to build awind farm in Lamar as part of its conventional generationcapacity despite Xcel's protests. The PUC claimed tobase this decision on purely economic grounds – windenergy at Lamar would be cheaper than natural-gas power(Laird 2008). In the end, cost and profitability wouldbe the only things to bring firms truly on-board."A large sector of Colorado's oil and gas industry hasalso jumped on the green-growth wagon, offering fullsupport for Colorado's latest Clean Air Clean Jobs Act"A large sector of Colorado's oil and gas industry hasalso jumped on the green-growth wagon, offering fullsupport for Colorado's latest Clean Air Clean Jobs Act.Under implementation of this act, Xcel will retire two oldcoal-fired power plants and retrofit one of them to burnnatural gas. Given that coal provided for 65.2% of Colorado'selectricity in 2008 while natural gas only provided25.2% (EIA 2010), natural gas producers stand to gain amuch bigger market share at the expense of the coal industry.Indeed, there has been a publicity battle betweenthe coal and the oil and gas industry over the Clean AirClean Jobs Act.The creation of stricter gas drilling rules, paired withthe RPS, allowed environmental organizations to feelmore comfortable lobbying for natural gas over coal.Although natural gas burns cleaner than coal, it is anon-renewable energy source that produces greenhousegas emission. Its longer term viability may depend oncontinued affordability and the development of extractiontechnologies that are acceptable to the public. Supportfrom the oil and gas industry is recent and tentative.Many in Colorado feel that natural gas can hitch its wagonto wind to enhance public support and also may be compensatedby self-reinforcing effects of green policy-createdconstituencies like those seen in the California case.3.4.2 ConsumersMeanwhile, experience with renewables and particularlywind has increased support for green policy among ruralconsumers. By 2006, some of these constituencieshad begun to receive tangible benefits from local easternplains wind installations. Observers familiar with theColorado politics suggest support has risen throughoutthe state, but especially among Republicans and in theeastern plains counties.A possible demonstration of this effect is found amongelectoral returns for races that touched on this issue. Forinstance, Governor Bill Ritter was well known for makingrenewable energy a critical part of his campaign platformin 2006, making 2006 something of a referendumon the program’s success thus far. Gov. Ritter did well inthe 2006 election, and notably, he did significantly betteramongst eastern plains state voters than Amd 37 haddone two years before. Although Gov. Ritter generallydid not receive a majority in these politically conservativeareas, he was competitive; in eastern plains countiesthat had major wind installations in place or under constructionby 2006 (Bent, Logan, Prowers, and Weld), hereceived between 47 and 57% of the vote. In the eighteastern plains counties that had given Amd 37 less than1/3 of their vote, Gov. Ritter typically received around13% more of the vote than Amd 37 did.4 ConclusionThough a state with vast fossil-fuel reserves, Coloradohas embarked on a surprising green growth path. Successstems from the combination of three elements: (1) thepublic advocacy movement leveraging both progressivesupport for environmental protection from Democraticurban regions and mountain counties as well as farmers'and ranchers' support for an RPS that offers themeconomic benefits; (2) the nurturing environment createdby a collaboration of research and education institutionsin Colorado, policies favorable to green industries,and a generally good business environment; (3) an assistfrom high federal funding at a critical period; and (4) thesubsequent increase in support from important industrystakeholders like Xcel Energy and key natural gas companies,as well as rural consumers, based on perceivedadvantages offered them by green policy."Second, Colorado’s story demonstrates the importanceof policy moves that have immediate, tangible,on-going benefits for constituencies that otherwisemight be skeptical of green policy"There are two key lessons to draw from Colorado’ssuccess. First, Colorado was able to make a relatively rapidshift toward a green industry path because key policyleaders identified a potential partnership between multiplevery different constituencies who all had intereststhat could be served by similar green growth policies.This provided the basis for a policy realignment basedon an informal partnership between these groups.Green Growth: From religion to reality 65