Renewables and CO2 emissions under a Trump Administration ... ban wind and solar in Wyoming??

The incoming Trump administration campaigned on bringing back jobs to coal country by ... bringing back coal (!).  Trump threatened (tweeted?) about pulling the U.S. out of the COP 21 accord. Then again, he met with Al Gore and said he has an "open mind" on things related to climate change. And some of his buddies in private equity and finance invest in renewables.  So there was hope. Next, he nominated a bunch of neanderthals to run the EPA, Department of Energy and other posts that might have something to do with U.S. climate change and renewables-related policies. All hope was lost. Or was it?

So like many policy areas, we know that we may be in for a very rough ride with a Trump administration, but do not really know what they will do.

I have drawn comfort from a couple things.

First, the price of renewables (and storage) are dropping so fast that we are beyond the point of turning back.  Likewise, electrification of the transport fleet will continue.

Second, businesses cannot plan based on a 2-year or 4-year election cycle.  A U.S. utility would be crazy to plan a new coal plant starting today just because of the results of the 2016 election -- the asset would probably, very likely, be stranded before it is complete. A total write-off. (Indeed, this is why the ExxonMobils of the world support a carbon tax -- they want a global, predictable price for CO2 emissions that makes it possible to plan long-term investments).

Third, much of the most aggressive policy in the U.S. promoting renewables has come out of state public utility commissions (PUCs) and legislatures, not from Washington.  So even if the EPA's "clean power plan" is dead on day one of the Trump Administration, the states with a healthy share of of the nation's population and energy consumption.

But what I was not counting on was THIS kind of activity (see link). Wyoming has both huge coal and very plentiful wind resources. Now the legislature is trying to ban the state utilities from using wind and solar power. Wow. Talk about interference with the "free market"!

Let's hope this does not pass.

Of course, even if Wyoming does pass this legislation, it will not be such a big thing for U.S. renewables policy. Despite Wyoming's bountiful energy resources, it has a very small population -- less than 2% the size of California.  So a regulation that involves the state's sources of electric power is only a drop in the bucket compared with what major states are doing.  And do not be surprised if certain other states and localities (especially up and down the west coast) do everything in their power to block Wyoming coal shipments for export (if they are not already doing so). There are limits on that kind of activity (under the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. constitution, many local regulations of transportation activity are "pre-empted"), but there is often a way.