What are the politics and policies behind the rise of Texas’ booming renewable energy sector? Texas, home to much of the U.S. oil and gas industry, has become a clean energy superpower. The state already leads the nation in wind-power generation, and solar is booming there as well. Last year, Texas generated more electricity from renewable energy sources than from coal. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic delivers a blow to the state’s struggling oil and gas industry, wind and solar production remain on a trajectory for continued record growth. The rise of renewable energy isn’t the only notable change taking place in Texas; the state’s politics appear to be shifting too. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is polling very close to President Trump, who swept the state in 2016. How did Texas become a clean-energy leader? What are the politics behind this rise? And what are the politics in Texas likely to be more broadly going forward? Could a growing green economy turn this red state blue? Political Climate speaks to Pat Wood, former head of the Texas Public Utility Commission named by then-Governor George W. Bush and former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where he led […]
Click here to view original web page at How Texas Turned Green
