Pacific Research Institute Fellows Dr. Wayne Winegarden and Dr. Marc Miles have created the 50 State Index of Energy Regulation, which covers the various regulatory climates for energy consumption, production and distribution.
It's no secret that energy is the great equalizer. We have written numerous articles showing that with clean energy - not by penalizing everything but the pet projects of politicians and the lobbyists paid to support some schemes - everything is possible. Cheap energy is the road from poverty and makes everything else possible.
What the economists find is validation of what most people know; it isn't how much energy you have available that makes you viable, it is how you use it. They show a direct relationship between a state’s ranking and its economic growth rate and high growth is associated with faster employment growth and that means a better culture because people are worried less about basic needs.
Given that, it's no surprise that anti-science states like California, Washington and New York rank poorly when it comes to economics and energy efficiency. New York bans fracking and shutters a nuclear plant due to environmental activism, but then has to pay high spot market prices to neighboring Pennsylvania, which has gotten a financial windfall and an environmental boost due to lower emissions.
50 State Index of Energy Regulation by Wayne Winegarden and Marc Miles, Pacific Research Institute
