Abstract
The issue of integrating environmental concerns into energy policy decision-making is increasingly addressed, not least in relation to climate-change. Although the USA, unlike the EU, has not signed the Kyoto Protocol, several U.S. states promote renewable electricity (RES-E), and some of these initiatives are linked to climate-change mitigation efforts. The present article assesses in this connection the six ‘New England’ states of the USA, comparing their efforts to the Nordic countries in Europe, focusing the importance of different multi-level governing structures. The New England states ‘ RES-E promotion has thus far not been substantially integrated with climate-change concerns, whereas in the EU’s more top-down approach to RES-E, climate-change figures quite prominently. EU policies represent an increasingly important driver for the Nordic countries. In the USA, on the other hand, it remains an open question as to whether and how future federal policies will relate to existing policies at the state level