Wind Power Has Become "Woke" In Texas, Krugman Howls

As of last year, wind power to generate electricity employed 25,538 people in Texas, with 13,392 working in solar -- both numbers far higher than the number of people working in electric power generation by traditional hydroelectric, natural gas, coal, oil, or nuclear, Teresa M. Hanafin reported for the Boston Globe.

Photo Insert: Republican legislators are revolting against the lucrative renewables industry, working overtime to block clean energy projects and boost fossil fuels instead.

Texas produces 26% of US wind power. The wind farms in its High Plains region could generate enough wind energy to power at least 9 million homes.

Unfortunately, the infrastructure to carry all that electricity around the state doesn't exist yet, which is too bad, because the price of the state's biggest energy source, natural gas, has skyrocketed.

Texas' renewable energy projects and storage generate billions in tax revenues and millions in royalties to landowners who lease their property to wind farms.

But the Lone Star state is blowing this boom because of what Nobel laureate Paul Krugman calls "this anti-woke mind virus." That's right: Republican legislators are revolting against the lucrative renewables industry, working overtime to block clean energy projects and boost fossil fuels instead.

It's a sea change from Texas' well-known reputation for being friendly to business, light on regulation, and enthusiastic about economic growth. But why? It's not greed, Krugman points out, because even fossil fuel companies have invested in green energy because they're not stupid.

They know it's their future. Then what is it? The simple fact that Democrats and environmentalists are promoting renewables. That's it. In other words, the wind has become woke in Texas.

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