Do Red States Have a Comparative Advantage in Generating Green Power?

Abstract

The passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act will lead to a significant increase in US wind and solar power investment. Renewable power generation requires more land than fossil fuel fired power generation. The land that will be allocated to renewables depends on several demand side and supply side factors that include the land’s renewable power potential, cost of acquisition, proximity to final power consumers, and local land use regulations. We find that Republican areas issue generation permits faster than progressive areas. We present evidence that rural Republican areas have a cost advantage for generating wind power; however, Democratic areas have sited more solar capacity. We use our statistical model to identify Republican Congressional districts that have the potential to scale up green power production. We thank Tatyana Deryugina, Catherine Wolfram, and Shaina Clorfeine for excellent comments.