Energy politics is local. So it's logical Washington, DC, isn't the only place this spring where politicians will be revisiting energy regulation. Thirty-six states will elect governors this year, several from oil-producing states. Many of the candidates are Washington veterans, seeking perhaps to broaden their political resumés with the hopes of coming back to Washington again either as a senator, or for the truly ambitious (and what politician isn't?), president.
Outside of Washington, three of the gubernatorial candidates are also well-known to industry: former Sec. of Energy Bill Richardson (D), who served in the administration of President Bill Clinton, is running for office in New Mexico; Sen. Frank Murkowksi (R-Alas.), former chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, is seeking the same office in Alaska; and Rep. Steve Largent (R-Okla.), who sought to expand marginal tax incentives for domestic drilling, is running in Oklahoma.
White House aspirations
None of the above candidates has been silly enough to admit he wants to get elected at the state level so he can be president later (although Richardson did hint he was interested in being Al Gore's running mate during the 2000 elections.) Still, it is a fair assumption these three and others running for governor are keenly aware of what political strategists say is required to win the White House. The past track record of lawmakers who sought the presidency while still on Capitol Hill is poor. By comparison, four out of the last five presidents (including George W. Bush) were governors or recently served as a governor.
Assuming all three of the energy-linked gubernatorial candidates win, it will be interesting to see how each addresses the energy issue in his state. Understanding how to manage the country's energy needs has never been a prerequisite for becoming US president. But in oil-producing states, the governor must play a key role in encouraging production, or he'll be out of elected office sooner than he would like.
Creating a sound business climate that encourages industry investment while addressing consumer energy concerns such as air pollution, reliability, and price is a tough balance, as California Gov. Gray Davis (D) who is running for reelection, has discovered. Many large states have econo- mies that by themselves are the same size as some small European countries. Bad decisions on energy issues, like the California power crisis, can reverberate across other business sectors, causing a state problem to turn into a regional, and ultimately national, problem.
State role expands
How a governor deals with issues such as gas and electric retail choice, high gasoline prices, chronic air pollution, hazardous waste, and other concerns in his own state can offer clues on how he may handle the same issues on a national scale.
And in many cases, states have decided to expand or fine-tune federal environment and energy regulations because local officials are skeptical that Washington, under a closely divided Congress, will have the political will or interest to move forward on controversial energy policy issues that often cut across regional, not partisan, lines.
