Happy Monday. Let's start the week some good news about Texas. And perhaps, America.
My favored news source The Economist recently published an article I found rather astounding. It is about the adoption of green clean energy in Texas. I love the graphic they used and the article even more. Here's just one of several interesting facts I'm going to quote from the piece, which is attached in its entirety at the end.
You might think that California, which talks a good game about climate change and green energy, is on the forefront of renewables development. But Texas is far ahead. According to a recent study, in the second quarter of 2022, Texas had three times more wind, solar and battery storage under construction than California.
One quarter a trend does not make, but still. I would be pleased to see this come to pass for many quarters. I've often said to my cousin and the Houston powerbroker Dr. Shelly Murphy that I have never understood why Texas - and specifically Houston - doesn't lead the way for the USA in clean energy. I think it's because many bleeding heart radical left flag burning commie liberal Democrats like me call it "green", vs. "clean", energy.
I am not kidding:
“When someone says we are embracing green energy, it’s like shoving an ice pick through our ears,” says Matt Welch, head of Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation, another pro-renewables group. “We just say clean energy.”
No problem! Which is why I struck the word above! All good, my conservative Texas friends - "clean" it is!
The article centers on the story of the Textbook West Texas Davis family, that has owned Pecan Spring Ranch there for 140 years. Despite their "knee-jerk" reaction to say "no", and their neighbors complaining that this is "AOC coming to town", the family allowed a wind turbine to be constructed on their property. Here's why:
Return Per Acre, Cattle = $8
Return Per Acre, Deer Hunters = $15
Return Per Acre, Wind Turbines = Several Hundred Dollars
They now have 7 wind turbines on their ranch in West Texas. It's funny how money makes people forget about certain things? It's not all unicorns and rainbows. The fossil fuel industry, in a complete shocker, is doing all it can to be sure this green clean energy madness is stopped, posthaste.
Organizations like the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), which lobbies on behalf of oil and gas, and the Texas Landowners Coalition, backed by right-wing beneficiaries of the fracking boom, are fighting tooth and nail to curb wind development. The TPPF’s battle extends to proposed offshore wind farms as far away as New England.
Jason Isaac of the TPPF says his organisation helped convince the Texas government to let a school-district tax credit lapse on December 31st that encouraged renewables investment in rural Texas. He argues that such fiscal support distorts the power market, though that stance ignores other incentives for oil and gas producers. He blames wind for the blackouts across Texas in 2021 caused by storm Uri, never mind that an official report concluded that “all types of generation technologies failed”, including natural gas and coal.
Why let facts and profits get in the way of saving the planet?
But no matter: because the article is optimistic about America coming together on the subject of green clean energy, and so am I.
Now, if we could just get people like me and AOC to stop nagging about it. Or calling it green energy.
I was thrilled to hear from everyone's favorite ageless PhD., the esteemed Dr. Davis Fladgate. He took time out from what I'm sure was an all-day/all-night rager for his 87th on Friday to send his plain-spoken compliment on my blog on the Psycho Woke.
Enjoyed your newsletter today.
Thanks!
Next, the world-class retiree Max "Madras" Ryder also felt compelled to address the wokety-woke. And his timing was perfect, because the piece is an interesting take on the wokeness surrounding Climate Change.
While I agree with nearly all of what's said in the video, I will repeat my reply to the plaid-shorted one: America must lead the way on addressing Climate Change, regardless of whether that will solve the entire problem. I agree it won't. As Thomas Friedman said years ago: the world is hosed if Brazil, India, and China reach the consumption levels of the US and Western Europe.
But is it right if we don't let the people of those nations have air conditioning and refrigerators?
Thank you to any one that is reading this newsletter.
KLUF
Here, with a band and album somehow not played to date here on KLUF, and featuring the great song "Energy", are The Apples in Stereo and the psychedelic guitar pop sheen of the Killer New Magnetic Wonder.
