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This paper considers key drivers to climate policy development with an emphasis on the role of a jurisdiction's underlying energy resource. The states of Hawaii in the United States and Victoria in Australia provide an insightful comparative case study given their differing energy resources: Hawaii has no native fossil fuel resources but abundant renewable energy options while Victoria has an economy traditionally reliant on cheap, plentiful coal. The Advocacy Coalition Framework is applied to analyze why the two states, despite the different incentives provided by their energy resources, developed similar climate policies in the earlier period of policy response to global warming. Analysis finds the stable parameter of energy resources is counterbalanced by other policy drivers including public opinion, leadership and, in particular, features of policy-making particular to the subnational level that provide a different context for climate policy development to that offered at the national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of the climate change threat and rising oil prices, some states, such as Oregon, New York and California, have adopted stronger renewable energy instruments than others. This paper analyzes the variation in instrument strength across states using the Tobit method of analysis. Three instruments are analyzed here: tax incentives, renewable portfolio standards and public benefit charges. Three models of policy adoption are estimated: needs/responsiveness, interest group and innovation-and-diffusion model. The paper finds that electric utilities oppose strong measures to stimulate renewable energy. Variables such as state wealth, electric restructuring programs and opinion liberalism also explain instrument strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]