Can Blue States Build?
Texas has become the nation’s renewable-energy powerhouse. This didn’t happen because Texas Republicans are deeply committed to fighting climate change; it happened because, in Texas, infrastructure projects are easier to build—something that can’t be said for a lot of the country, including in states led by Democrats who claim to prioritize the climate crisis.
It raises the question: Is our clean-energy transition seriously at risk if we don’t make building renewable-energy technology and infrastructure much easier?
Texas’s largest grid operator announced last year that it had more than 18,000 megawatts of solar-power capacity installed on its grid; California’s largest grid operator had just over 17,000. Although taking California’s solar crown was new, Texas had been a leader in renewable-energy generation for several years. According to Inside Climate News, in 2022 Texas generated more than 130,000 gigawatt-hours of wind and solar electricity. The next best state was California, with less than 53,000.
On today’s episode of Good on Paper, I’m joined by Jesse Jenkins, a professor and engineer at Princeton University, where he leads the REPEAT Project, which helps guide policy makers with up-to-date predictions and reports about renewable energy.
