Democratic-leaning states increasingly are regulating energy use and emissions, working around a GOP-controlled federal government that state officials say has not done enough. The states are creating energy efficiency requirements for light bulbs and household appliances, limiting power plant and automobile output linked to global warming, and requiring the use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar. Leading the effort are “blue” states that voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential election. Even some of those states that have Republican governors, such as California and Connecticut, are making their own rules. “In a way, the left is controlling that agenda,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, associate director of the energy program at Rice University in Houston. “They’re just implementing it at the community and state level.” Thinking globally, acting locally Jaffe and other analysts said some of the policies would have to be adopted nationally to have a significant impact on the environment and energy consumption. But with other policies, such as the auto emissions limits, they said a sufficient number of big states are adopting regulations to make a significant difference nationally. “If all these giant-population states do this, does it matter that we don’t have […]