Jun 1, 2023 · 26m · green-blueprint
Why Texas Republicans are trying to crush wind and solar
Chris Tomlinson · 15m spoken Stephen Lacey · 6m spoken Rick Perry · 19s spoken Greg Abbott · 12s spoken Texas House Presiding Officer · 2s spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Host Stephen Lacey and Houston Chronicle columnist Chris Tomlinson analyze the political and legislative backlash against wind and solar in Texas. They examine the disinformation campaigns, market interventions, and primary politics driving anti-renewable policies despite strong economic fundamentals and broad public support.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The hosts as informed peer 3.8 Guest teaching 3.7 Guest disagreement 1.3 The hosts pushing back 0.3
speaking balance: gold is the hosts, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 18:23 Questioning the official blackout excuse
Tomlinson challenges the standard narrative that gas plants merely broke down from cold, pointing to active litigation accusing pipeline owners of intentionally withholding gas to manipulate market prices.
Hardest push from the hosts ▶ 17:55 Pressing on gas plant accountabilityLacey pushes back on the policy disparity by directly asking whether gas plants that failed during Winter Storm Uri faced comparable emergency requirements to the new quotas imposed on renewables.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:00 Unmasking the donors behind anti-wind zoningTomlinson educates listeners and the host on the hidden special interests driving SB 624, specifically naming wealthy landowners like Dan Friedkin and the Bass Brothers fighting to preserve views from their hobby ranches.
The host holds their own ▶ 22:33 Lacey catalogs national clean energy political ironiesLacey demonstrates comprehensive subject-matter mastery by citing specific national data on IRA manufacturing investments flowing to red districts while congressional Republicans fought to repeal the funds.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The hosts as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The hosts pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event Announcements: Transition AI and Canary Media Live | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Lacey introduces the episode with event announcements and sets up the political drama in Austin with news clips, while Tomlinson provides color commentary on the chaotic final days of the legislative session. | |
| The Origins of the Texas Renewable Energy Boom | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Lacey traces the origins back to George W. Bush and Rick Perry, prompting Tomlinson to explain the economic history of ERCOT, the shale boom perfected by George Mitchell, and deregulation. | |
| Winter Storm Uri and the Anti-Renewables Disinformation Campaign | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Lacey highlights how gas infrastructure failed during Winter Storm Uri despite renewables taking the blame, leading Tomlinson to unpack the coordinated disinformation campaign involving TXOGA and the Railroad Commission. | |
| Legislative Backlash and the Fight Over Senate Bill 624 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | Lacey asks about the wave of 171 anti-renewable bills, and Tomlinson delivers detailed reporting on Senate Bill 624 and the wealthy hobby ranch owners backing the restrictive permitting push. | |
| Passed Energy Policies: Interconnection Costs and Firming Quotas | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | Lacey presses on the asymmetry between renewable firming mandates and gas plant weatherization, prompting Tomlinson to discuss pipeline price manipulation lawsuits and assess the policy damage as a kneecap rather than annihilation. | |
| Primary Politics, Clean Energy Contradictions, and Long-Term Trends | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Lacey demonstrates high expertise by outlining the contradiction of federal IRA investments concentrated in Republican districts while GOP leaders oppose them. Tomlinson explains the primary voter dynamics and long-term depletion of tier-one oil assets. |
Statements from this episode (18)
Lacey: Texas leads the US in wind and solar under 20-year GOP control
“Texas is a state where Republicans dominate every part of government. The governor's office, secretary of state, attorney general, both legislative chambers. It's been that way for two decades. It also happens to be a state with the most wind and utility scale…”
Tomlinson: Renewables are eroding natural gas's market share in Texas
“They have taken a huge chunk of the market away from coal, and they're cutting into natural gas's market share for providing electricity to the state, and there are oil and gas guys who really don't want to give up anything else.”
Tomlinson: Texas lawmakers proposed requiring 50% fossil fuel energy mandate
“One of the proposals was to mandate that 50% of Texas energy must come from fossil fuels. That measure didn't pass, but it kind of set the tone for what followed.”
Tomlinson: Wind and solar saved Texans $31B over the last decade
“Well, you know, the Texas Consumer Association says that we saved about thirty-one billion dollars on our electricity bills over the last decade, thanks to wind and solar.”
Abbott: 2021 Texas blackouts prove fossil fuels are necessary
“Sean, this shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America. As a result it just shows that fossil fuel is necessary for the state of Texas as well as other states.”
Tomlinson: Viral anti-wind freeze image was a three-year-old Swedish photo
“They had a spokesman who tweeted out an image of a helicopter spraying a liquid onto a wind turbine, and the caption was, a fossil fuel powered helicopter sprays fossil fuels on a clean energy device to generate electricity. Now, of course, the image was not f…”
Tomlinson: A Texas bill proposed banning all future renewable energy development
“Well, I mean, there was one bill to ban all future renewable energy development.”
Texas SB 624 proposed letting distant residents block renewable energy projects
“The big, nasty bill that was You know, still alive as of Saturday until it was ripped out by negotiators was something called Senate Bill six 24. And it creates a list of places where if a wind farm is within 10 miles or a solar facility is within five miles o…”
Tomlinson: Bass Brothers and Dan Friedkin pushed SB 624 to preserve ranch views
“And we know where that comes from. It's a coalition of wealthy landowners it's the Bass Brothers from Fort Worth. It's Dan Friedkin, who's a Hollywood producer and banker. We know about the folks down in South Texas. These are people who own hobby ranches. Rea…”
Tomlinson: Texas transmission lines cost about $1M per mile
“And it's about a million dollars a mile to run a transmission line in Texas.”
Tomlinson: New firming requirements will definitely slow Texas renewable investment
“This is going to be really expensive. It's also going to be highly political because we don't know yet what the PUC will assign to different facilities, but it will definitely slow down new investment in Texas, renewable energy.”
Tomlinson: Texas is the only state where pipelines own in-pipe gas
“Texas is the only state in the country where pipelines get to own the gas inside the pipeline, and it allows pipeline generators to manipulate prices.”
Tomlinson: Texas gives natural gas generators $9B annually in subsidies
“They are giving natural gas generators nine billion dollars a year in subsidies to help them compete with renewables.”
Tomlinson: 80 GW of battery storage is in ERCOT's interconnection queue
“You know, we've got 80 gigawatts of battery storage in the queue to interconnect into the ERCOT grid at, right now.”
Tomlinson: Texas energy laws will make battery storage more economical
“A lot of these laws will make that battery storage even more economical, even if it's going to hurt future wind and solar projects.”
Lacey: Over 80% of US renewables are in Republican districts
“Over 80% of renewables are installed in Republican districts around the country.”