Municipal Responses to the Energy Challenge: Davis, California. Grassroots Involvement in Energy Conservation and Planning

摘要

In the United States, where federal support for energy conservation vaccilates, the opportunity for local innovation is great. The community of Davis in California provides a well-known example of the potentials for local energy innovation. In this paper, the processes behind innovation are analyzed, looking at the importance of grassroots organizing for overcoming opposition. Davis is a particularly appropriate case, as it demonstrates how to go from a radical idea to implementation, and it shows how to survive the first wave of innovation and continue to generate new ideas. We analyze Davis, here, by first presenting the structural context of innovation, briefly describing the federal and state policies that encourage or constrain energy action. We then look at the community of Davis itself and analyze the innovation process in planning and conservation. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the Davis experience for other communities, and the future in a community where the 'easy' energy innovations have been made. (ERA citation 12:036950)