2020 Virtual undergraduate Research symposium
Politics of Renewable Energy
PROJECT NUMBER: 63
AUTHOR: Alexandria McPherson, Physics | MENTOR: Kathleen Hancock, Humanities and Social Sciences
ABSTRACT
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The dichotomy between nonrenewable and renewable energy has existed for decades on a global scale with some countries diving into the renewable change and others holding their ground in their nonrenewable roots. The choice to promote renewable legislation over nonrenewable is historically intertwined with politics. When looking at the shift between nonrenewable to renewable energy on a state level within America, however, the factors influencing the change are less partisan and clear than expected, specifically in Nevada. Nevada is a traditionally red state but has recently made large policy changes to move towards renewable energy sources, especially solar energy. The shift towards renewable legislation seems surprising since there is a lack of major political changes, price changes in the energy market, or technological developments that could explain the change. There are other powerful factors in Nevada, such as coalitions and energy-intensive businesses, that are influencing the shift towards renewables. The key players identified in this policy shift can serve as a model when analyzing the politics surrounding renewable energy in other states, or scaled up to countries.
VISUAL PRESENTATION
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
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Xan McPherson is a Junior at the Colorado School of Mines studying Engineering Physics with a minor in Applied Mathematics. Xan is passionate about renewable energy and had the opportunity to work with a project in the Humanities and Social Sciences department researching the politics of renewable energy with Nevada as a case study.
Overall, good work. I would love to see more conclusions – perhaps some inference on why the key players that are making this shift have chosen to do so. I think that this would make a great behavioral economics case study. I wonder what incentives are driving this behavior.
Many environmental economists will often suggest that the most ethical and environmentally friendly choice is also to the most economical – based off your study, this seems to be the case. I would love to see more. Overall, well done.