Party affiliation, economic interests and U.S. governors’ renewable energy policies
研究发现美国州长的党派归属对可再生能源发展有影响，但该影响在能源密集型制造业重要或自然资源禀赋匮乏的州消失，表明经济利益和连任动机可能压倒党派偏好。
This paper explores the impact of U.S. state governors’ party affiliation and economic interests on renewable energy outcomes. Using data on installed renewable capacity, we find that, on average, Democratic governors had a positive impact on the state-level adoption of renewable energy. However, the effect is highly heterogeneous. There are no differences in renewable energy outcomes between Democratic and Republican governors in states where the energy-intensive manufacturing industries are economically important or in states where the natural renewable endowment is scarce. Consistent with a political economy approach, we argue that in the area of renewable and climate policy, governors’ policy preferences are overridden by holding office motivations and economic interests.