When it comes to climate change, there’s a new sheriff in town. Unfortunately, too many politicians are still pretending it’s the Old West.
In his first days in office, President Joe Biden took significant action to combat the climate crisis — from weaning the United States off fossil fuels to setting bold goals for clean energy. Unsurprisingly, the usual suspects — too many of them from Texas — responded with incoherent arguments against renewable energy and for the continued desecration of our public lands.
Sen. Ted Cruz claimed Biden is “more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh.” The Paris Climate Agreement, an international agreement to eliminate fossil fuel usage, was agreed upon in 2015, and Biden just reaffirmed U.S. support. That agreement isn’t for the French; it benefits all of us. Ironically, given our junior senator’s statement, the city of Pittsburg, Texas, is saying goodbye to its coal plant and Campbell Soup is installing solar at its factory in, yes, Paris, Texas.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw has repeated half-truths about the impact to jobs from the president’s actions. He described wind and solar power as “silly solutions” which “don’t work.” Strange, because they sure do work in Texas. We lead the nation in wind power, and last year wind surpassed coal as the state’s second largest source of electricity. This year, Texas will install more solar capacity than any other state. The sun and wind are reliably powering our grid, reducing pollution and employing out-of-work oil and gas landmen.
We agree with Crenshaw on one thing: Research and development are worthwhile investments of public funds to propel ongoing progress against climate change. But innovation doesn’t happen on its own. It’s set in motion by market-shaping polices, and Biden’s are grounded in science. To keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius — the level necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change — we must reach net-zero emissions by 2050. We can’t wait for more research. We already know what we need to do.
We need to electrify all our cars, trucks and buses. We need to build high-speed rail connecting our cities. We need to reduce energy waste in our buildings and generate 100 percent of our electricity from zero-carbon sources. It is a massive job, akin in scale to the U.S. mobilization for World War II. But it’s a job we can’t afford to put off.
In recent years, Texans have experienced devastation wrought by climate change. Think about Hurricane Harvey’s impact on Houston: over 90 killed and some parts of the city still in disrepair. Scientific studies estimate that global warming made Harvey’s rainfall 15 percent more intense.
Last year’s hurricane season brought a record total of 12 tropical storms to the U.S. coastline, surpassing the previous record of nine from 1916.
According to the National Climate Assessment, the future looks grim, with more extreme heat and humidity, increasingly severe storms and sea-level rise.
Biden is right. It doesn’t make sense to be creating new oil and gas infrastructure, such as the Keystone XL pipeline, when the world is moving away from oil. For example, just this week, General Motors announced it’ll stop making gas-powered cars and SUVs by 2035.
It doesn’t make sense to allow oil companies to continue to release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere, when the atmosphere is showing us every day it can’t handle the stress. Our necessary transition to clean energy will also create opportunities for oil and gas workers to help secure a healthy, thriving Texas for generations to come.
Already 250,000 Texans work in the advanced energy industry — in areas such as energy efficiency, solar, wind and electric vehicles — many of whom are earning high salaries as engineers, financial analysts and construction managers. Federal investment in clean energy, like that proposed by the president, “would add $350 billion to Texas gross state product, a six-fold return on investment; increase tax revenues; create 2 million jobs; and deliver billions in annual savings to consumers,” according to the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance. But arguments over jobs distracts from the real issue — life as we know it, and the rich diversity of the planet, is at grave risk.
We face no greater long-term threat than climate change. Anyone who is serious about protecting the health of our great state and its people will support Biden’s efforts to reduce American reliance on fossil fuels.
Metzger is executive director of Environment Texas, a non-profit advocate for clean air, clean water and open spaces.
"Opinion" - Google News
January 30, 2021 at 03:07AM
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Opinion: Biden’s plans boost Texas energy jobs that will prevent climate disasters - Houston Chronicle
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