I appreciate this discussion of how rapidly things are changing, though I worry that many readers many not know the basics about where Texas currently stands in its (extremely high) energy use and emissions.
Highlighting the growth of clean energy in Texas isn't a mistake. It's one of many data points to consider. No article, tweet, or even 100 page report is going to be able to cover everything.
Capacity growth is a leading indicator of future emissions intensity. The difference between how quickly Texas is building vs. the rest of the country suggests we should pay attention and understand what's working and bring those learnings elsewhere.
I don't disagree with any of that. Still, David said incorrectly that "red states are ahead" and while that's true for housing, it's not true for energy. This isn't your fault, of course--it's become almost axiomatic on Twitter that Texas is way ahead of California on clean energy. To some extent this idea is being driven by folks who oppose regulations more broadly and want to hold up the TX-CA energy comparison as an example to further their narrative. Anyhow, if you get a chance to highlight how low CA's per-capita emissions currently are compared to TX, I think it would help people be less wrong. I keep trying but I don't have much of a reach.
That bar chart is 🤯
I appreciate this discussion of how rapidly things are changing, though I worry that many readers many not know the basics about where Texas currently stands in its (extremely high) energy use and emissions.
It's a good point. Maybe a good topic for a future post!
Yikes. Looks like even David Roberts made the mistake I was worried about.
Highlighting the growth of clean energy in Texas isn't a mistake. It's one of many data points to consider. No article, tweet, or even 100 page report is going to be able to cover everything.
Capacity growth is a leading indicator of future emissions intensity. The difference between how quickly Texas is building vs. the rest of the country suggests we should pay attention and understand what's working and bring those learnings elsewhere.
I don't disagree with any of that. Still, David said incorrectly that "red states are ahead" and while that's true for housing, it's not true for energy. This isn't your fault, of course--it's become almost axiomatic on Twitter that Texas is way ahead of California on clean energy. To some extent this idea is being driven by folks who oppose regulations more broadly and want to hold up the TX-CA energy comparison as an example to further their narrative. Anyhow, if you get a chance to highlight how low CA's per-capita emissions currently are compared to TX, I think it would help people be less wrong. I keep trying but I don't have much of a reach.