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Last weekend most of the United States' 50 governors met in Washington, D.C. to discuss, among other things, the importance of clean energy to their states in the years to come. As has already been shown, the US is lagging badly on the federal level in providing direction for a clean energy economy, while the states and localities seem to be taking up much of the slack, from expected sources such as California and New England, and from the unexpected like Minnesota and Iowa.
 In fact, Minnesota's Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Securing a Clean Energy Future initiative formed the focus of Saturday's opening plenary session, where Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist, and Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE, answered questions from the governor on the roles of the states and business, respectively, in brining about that clean energy future. Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan got in the first question on the panel, looking for a policy focus for the Governors to support to help Congress pass useful legislation.
Friedman's initial answer (Windows Media video) focuses on the role of utilities in the clean energy economy and how Congress can incentivize green measures on the part of utilities. Immelt, meanwhile, offered that governors such as Granholm, who are concerned about replacing manufacturing jobs lost over recent years as the manufacturing economy has taken a severe hit, should focus on jobs for export--that is, green technologies such as photovoltaic solar panels, wind turbines, and coal gassification plant components. Such technologies are the lifeblood of a clean energy economy, of course, and not every state is going to be equipped to help produce them.
The meeting was not quite an unmitigated success, however, despite the good discussion that the governors were able to engage in. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, for instance, was frustrated by the lack of consensus on clean energy policy. It seems less than likely that the 50 governors will reach any better consensus than, say, the US Senate on any contentious matter, especially one impacting the economy so strongly, but it's not hard to see how Schweitzer could be disappointed. The meeting is a rare opportunity for the states to stand as one and declare their needs to the President and Congress, and a majority statement with minority dissent would seem to be a weak and unconvincing tool for pushing policy change.
That all said, what's heartening is the will of the Governors Association to address these issues and devote a significant portion of their winter meetings to the topic. Look for more discussion in the future as clean energy becomes more of a necessity than obviously some governors are willing to admit at this point.
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