The United States lacks a cohesive national renewable energy policy framework choosing to rely on diverse federal, state and local policies, strategies and cooperative frameworks (Byrne, Hughes, Rickerson, and Lado, 2007). Leading global economies such as Spain, France, China, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom have all adopted respective national policy statements on renewable energy defining institutional guidelines and regulatory frameworks for meeting specific RE targets (Jordan-Korte, 2011). According to Krosinsky, a national policy serves to harmonize the production, distribution and access to renewable energy resources hence creating mutual adjustments in the goals, interests and actions of stakeholders within the sector (Krosinsky, 2012). Hence, the United States should adopt a defined federal policy to increase renewable energy usage by streamlining the deployment of renewable energy technologies and increasing efficiency.
Formal Federal government’s campaign to promote increased utilization of renewable energy dates back to early 1960s, however, the first formal legislation on renewable energy was the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (Lehrer, 2010). The National Energy Act sub-clause specifically targeted increased supply and greater use of domestic and renewable energy resources. The closest attempt to have a national policy on renewable energy died in 2011 with the failure of American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The bill, introduced by Henry Waxman, proposed among other things, that 20% of the total electricity production be from renewable sources. The bill also recommended subsidies for renewable energy and related technologies, protection of renewable energy consumers, 17% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and the introduction of a national renewable energy standard (Linscott, 2011). The bill’s failure implies that individual states continue to rely on Renewable Energy standards passed at the state level guided by the Mandatory Green Power Options and the Renewable Portfolio Standards (Linscott, 2011).
Research by the Edison Electrical Institute recommended the adoption of a national policy on renewable energy citing its likelihood to increase renewable energy generation by a whopping 600% (Linscott, 2011). A national statement and policy will increase government support, expand production, induce tax exemptions, and stimulate renewable power subsidies thereby significantly increasing the country’s total renewable energy generation, access and consumption capacities. A strong national policy also provides a major incentive for increasing energy generation from renewable sources. Key incentives would include tax inducement, cash subsidies, access to regulatory mandates and increased research funding. Research by Jordan-Korte found that, a national policy would establish clear, consistent renewable energy production and distribution by prompting respective government agencies to implement programs and plans to achieve the specified targets (Jordan-Korte, 2011). Additionally, the Federal government would have the responsibility of designing, monitoring, reporting and implementing policies to ensure success (Jordan-Korte, 2011).
Rather than adopt a single national policy on renewable energy, the US seems content with the various Federal and State Renewable Energy policies whose effectiveness remains questionable. Linscott attributes the lack of a cohesive national renewable energy policy to the federal government gridlock in policymaking, unstructured renewable energy market and lack of a unified operational structure for renewable energy producers (Linscott, 2011). Additional critical impediments to a cohesive national policy include a fragmented authority at the national level, conflicting political interests, separation of power and shifting policies on renewable energy (Jordan-Korte, 2011). The separation of power between the state governments, the US Congress and the presidency has created a divided society making it difficult to pass a strong national renewable energy policy. Continually shifting policy and fragmented federal government authority have also made it challenging to set long term predictable RE targets necessary to achieve a cohesive policy (Jordan-Korte, 2011).
The aspirations to meet increasing energy demands and develop a low carbon economy by reducing greenhouse gas emissions have prompted governments to set ambitious renewable energy targets. The targets aim to increase both usage and generation of renewable energy from large-scale infrastructure. It is, however, evident that the size, geographic configuration, and the complex political structure of the United States makes the adoption of a national policy on renewable energy challenging. The country has both sufficient funding and technical expertise in the field of renewable energy. Politics remains the key impediment to attaining a national policy that would serve to increase both renewable energy production and usage. A cohesive national policy will motivate the US to have both a national vision and firm commitment to renewable energy founded on long-term policies unaffected by political changes.