The present conflict between federal and local governments in the context of nuclear power could be even worse in the case of the SPS. Several studies!86-188 of the SPS have concluded that an international regulatory body probably would be desirable for regulation of the technology. If this move to centralize energy technology regulation comes at a time when the dominant national trend is exactly the opposite, substantial intergovernmental duplication and conflict could result, not only between the federal and local governments, but also between local governments and the international regulatory body. For example, Kotin^^ suggests the possibility that states could attempt to regulate microwave exposure levels to their citizens — an area ripe for international regulation if the SPS is deployed. Such disputes, should they arise, could cause unexpected delays, costs, and uncertainties in the deployment of the SPS. While it is true that world-wide commitment to international regulatory bodies such as the Law of the Sea Conference and the International Whaling Commission has grown in recent years, these bodies derive their authority to regulate the United States from the federal government. If the decentralization trend should continue, it is conceivable that state and local interests would reduce the ability of these international regulatory bodies to govern effectively. For example, recent litigation on behalf of Alaskan Eskimos to exempt their whaling activities from regulation by the International Whaling Commission may be decided in their favor, despite vigorous opposition by the federal government . Non-Uniform Regulation. Regardless of whether the difficulties suggested above materialize, great potential exists for the SPS regulatory system, concurrent with other centralized energy technologies, to become more expensive than is predicted. Naisbitt^S concluded that governments "have stopped looking for the one best way to accomplish a particular social goal, and are now experimenting with a wide variety of approaches." If the decentralization trend continues, the regulatory system for any of the electricity technologies covered in this section — at whatever level of government that is vested with primary jurisdiction — will likely have to be sufficiently flexible to meet this demand for individuality. The cost advantages of the uniform regulatory system that would normally evolve will be reduced as the system becomes unwieldy in the attempt to please widely divergent constituencies. Although the President has proposed a new regulatory body whose explicit purpose is to counteract this tendency, it is unclear whether his objective will be met. 4.7.4 Summary Institutional (regulatory) considerations are increasingly affecting the viability of new energy technologies. A comparison of regulatory schemes for the SPS, coal, nuclear, and terrestrial photovoltaic technologies suggests that the SPS could be faced with unprecedented regulatory burdens as a result of the number of jurisdictions that might seek to govern it. Moreover, this trend could be exacerbated by the developing tendency of local governmental units to attempt to gain regulatory control from the federal government.
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