Denmark has the same population as Massachusetts yet it is the world leader in wind energy, an enormous and rapidly growing source of the world's power. Why? Because Denmark's policymakers looked further ahead than the next election. 1/ https://twitter.com/gmbutts/status/1357307684031201280

At the beginning of the 1990s, concerns over the cost of imports led policymakers to guarantee payment for a small amount of wind-generated electricity. That got the Danish private sector working on the problem. 2/

The first wind turbines were pathetic by today's standards. But they got better. And when they did, the policymakers guaranteed a bigger purchase of wind energy. The private sector again responded. 3/

Over time, the output of one of Denmark's private-sector created wind turbines tripled. Then quintupled. They're now producing 12 times the electricity, and more. Wind is fully cost competitive, the industry has taken off globally, and Denmark leads. Because policy matters. 4/

An advantage Scandinavian governments have: continuity. Power shifts from party to party but long-term initiatives may continue because parties don't feel compelled to throw out what predecessors started and do their own thing. Goals beyond the next election become possible. 5/

(A great illustration of that long perspective is the transformation of Finland's justice system, c. 1960 to 1990. It had been in the Russian mould, ie. punitive as hell. They chose to become like Sweden and Norway, a complete 180. It took decades but was a huge success. 6/)