This week Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued orders to the Texas Public Utility Commission to foster more use of coal, natural gas and nuclear power to supply his state with reliable power. He sent a letter on July 6, in which he spelled out the principle that generating modes that cannot provide reliable supplies, like wind and solar, should properly bear the costs of failures in the system. If these modes do not bear these costs, then it creates “an uneven playing field between non-renewable and renewable energy generators,” he stated in his letter. Abbott wants the Utility Commission to structure more incentives for the use of fossil fuels and nuclear, to avert a disaster like the February Texas freeze.
Many places in the U.S. are now facing summer blackouts during the high heat episodes, when electricity systems cannot meet the demand for air conditioning. New waves of protest against the green agenda are underway in the Central and Western states, with various demands, ranging from a stop to the shift to wind and solar, to stopping the “30×30” plan, which calls for a 30% set-aside of use of federal lands and water by 2030. Last week, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts had his eighth town hall meeting against the 30×30 “land grab,” in which 150 people attended in a very sparsely populated county.
