Gubernatorial tutorial: What's at stake in your governor's race?

Jerry Brown, then and nowTrivia questions for energy geeks: Which state approved the country’s first energy-efficiency standards for appliances? The first green building codes? The first big wind farms? And who was governor when all those fine things happened? The answer is California under Gov. Jerry Brown — aka Governor Moonbeam — who just happens to be running for the office again, some 30 years later. Last week, Brown, the Democratic nominee, unveiled a clean-energy plan to put far more solar panels on California’s rooftops, in addition to appointing a renewable energy czar and strengthening those sexy appliance standards. Of …

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper took Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on a bike ride last week to show off B-cycle, the city’s new bike-sharing program. He talks to Grist about urban mobility and his campaign for governor.

Colorado gubernatorial candidates: a mayor who’s promoted biking; a Tea Partier who thinks bike-sharing is a U.N. scheme; or a third-party candidate who only talks about immigration.

Michigan Republican Rick Snyder is a high-tech venture capitalist, a one-time Nature Conservancy board member, and a Smart Growth backer who talks about investing in transit and reining in sprawl. And he could well become governor of a state with huge challenges and huge opportunities to reshape its economy. For enviros searching for the elusive “green Republican,” he’s worth tracking.

Florida’s governor race pits Alex Sink (D), a former banking executive comfortable talking energy efficiency and cleantech business plans, against Rick Scott (R), a largely unknown hospital-chain owner who supports offshore drilling but hasn’t made his positions clear on many other green issues. For a state that’s failed to live up to its clean-energy potential — and a state uniquely vulnerable to climate change — the differences are significant.

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Hawaii. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Georgia. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Maine. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Idaho. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Alaska. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Alabama. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Arkansas. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Connecticut. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Iowa. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Kansas. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Nevada. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in New Mexico. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change & other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Oklahoma. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Pennsylvania. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about green issues?

Tell us what you know about the governor’s race in Oregon. What’s at stake? What are candidates saying about climate change and other green issues?