Unfortunately, there are many issues where the federal government has trumped things that states might do. Several states had allowed electric utilities to include investment in conservation in their rate base alongside investment in new generating capacity -- but FERC's "deregulation" of generation did away with those state rules. NYC or Boston might like to encourage very small all-electric cars that are well-suited to their dense urban settings -- but their ability to do so will be limited by federal safety and other standards. Since the 1950s, the Commerce Clause in the US Constitution has been stretched so far by the Supreme Court that states are, effectively, allowed to regulate only if Congress has chosen not to preempt them -- for example, California can have more stringent emission requirements than the EPA's only because Congress has passed specific legislation allowing that.

It's even harder at the local level. In the election last week, Boulder, Colorado passed a "carbon tax" on electricity and exempted customers who use the local utility's wind-power option. I expect this to be successfully challenged in the courts. The wind-power option is an accounting gimmick: even on a day when wind-power is adding nothing to the grid, so that customers are using coal-based electricity, they will not pay the carbon tax. If not in state court over that, they'll lose in federal court because they cannot show that they are accurately taxing power generated in other states and "imported" to Boulder. Any carbon tax associated with electricity and levied on consumers will probably fail in court for the same reasons.

Under the 'localize' mantra, how does one go back to the bad old days of 'states rights' and stop sending lottsa money to the feds?

That way State efforts will have funding?