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> fractured policy landscape in the US are you saying that the EU is more uniform politically than the US?

lhorie 6y ago
IMHO, US politics are extremely polarized. Politics elsewhere tend to be a much more nuanced spectrum, with large moderate bases.
- throwaway894345 6y ago
  There's a lot of money to be had by making sure Americans are divided and not united against corporate interests. In addition to limiting corporate lobbying (including fixing the lobbyist/regulator revolving door), campaign donations, etc, I would really like to see more research into how media and social media influence polarization, and perhaps some regulation around social media curation.
- pydry 6y ago
  It's less about the polarization and more about the dominance of the hydrocarbon lobby. In Europe it just isn't as powerful. It's the same story with a few lobbies - especially gun manufacturing and HMO. The most successful lobbies may favor one side but they are pretty bipartisan.
torwayburger 6y ago
I think perhaps this holds for specifically climate science and the politics around it.
epistasis 6y ago
Even the Conservatives in the UK are backing wind, with a goal of 40 GW recently announced. Meanwhile in the US, even though conservative voters show majority support for clean energy in polls, conservative politicians sabotage clean energy policy, and work to convince voters against their clean energy views, because their campaign funds come from fossil fuel interests. This leads to much less certainty for investors that policy will stay consistent long enough for projects to come to fruition. When a bought and paid for election destroys policy, like was recently exposed in Ohio, it keeps investors' money away. https://www.energyandpolicy.org/utility-corruption/ https://www.energyandpolicy.org/utility-corruption/
cr1895 6y ago
When it comes to realizing an offshore wind farm, Europe doesn’t have the Byzantine multilevel and multiagency permitting process that the US does. Permitting delays and complexity are largely what’s holding back offshore wind in the US.
deleted 6y ago
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IMHO, US politics are extremely polarized. Politics elsewhere tend to be a much more nuanced spectrum, with large moderate bases.

throwaway894345 6y ago
There's a lot of money to be had by making sure Americans are divided and not united against corporate interests. In addition to limiting corporate lobbying (including fixing the lobbyist/regulator revolving door), campaign donations, etc, I would really like to see more research into how media and social media influence polarization, and perhaps some regulation around social media curation.
pydry 6y ago
It's less about the polarization and more about the dominance of the hydrocarbon lobby. In Europe it just isn't as powerful. It's the same story with a few lobbies - especially gun manufacturing and HMO. The most successful lobbies may favor one side but they are pretty bipartisan.

torwayburger 6y ago

I think perhaps this holds for specifically climate science and the politics around it.

epistasis 6y ago

Even the Conservatives in the UK are backing wind, with a goal of 40 GW recently announced. Meanwhile in the US, even though conservative voters show majority support for clean energy in polls, conservative politicians sabotage clean energy policy, and work to convince voters against their clean energy views, because their campaign funds come from fossil fuel interests. This leads to much less certainty for investors that policy will stay consistent long enough for projects to come to fruition. When a bought and paid for election destroys policy, like was recently exposed in Ohio, it keeps investors' money away. https://www.energyandpolicy.org/utility-corruption/ https://www.energyandpolicy.org/utility-corruption/

cr1895 6y ago

When it comes to realizing an offshore wind farm, Europe doesn’t have the Byzantine multilevel and multiagency permitting process that the US does. Permitting delays and complexity are largely what’s holding back offshore wind in the US.

deleted 6y ago

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