Texas is my home, and while I may have been out of Texas for longer than I lived there growing up, I have nearly two centuries of ancestors who were among the first pioneers settling in Texas, building small towns and the American dream. For generations my family has been part of this state’s proud legacy of energy independence. From the days of horse and carriage to wood burning stoves, from oil wells to natural gas pipelines, and now to wind turbines and solar panels—I am proud of the energy evolution of Texas. Each new energy source has made our grid more affordable and more reliable, because the more energy sources we have, the stronger our foundation becomes.
So when the Texas Legislature’s failure to pass three major anti-renewable energy bills this session made headlines, it represented more than just a policy victory to me—it was validation that Texas continues to choose economic dominance over political theater, recognizing that renewables are the perfect complement to our natural gas infrastructure, building on rather than replacing the multi-generational foundation of Texas energy leadership.
A Quiet Victory with Enormous Economic Implications
When the 89th Texas Legislature adjourned on Monday, three bills that could have fundamentally reshaped the state’s energy landscape died in the House of Representatives. Senate Bills 388, 715, and 819—collectively representing one of the most aggressive state-level attacks on renewable energy in recent memory—never even received a vote in the lower chamber.
This wasn’t an accident. It was a recognition by pragmatic lawmakers that Texas’s energy dominance depends not on picking winners and losers, but on harnessing every available resource to meet exploding demand while protecting the jobs and economic opportunities that come with energy leadership.
The Real Energy Security Challenge: We Need Every Electron
This isn’t an either-or game between fossil fuels and renewables—it’s about meeting an insatiable and growing demand for electrons. Every light that turns on in an American business or school, every machine that hums in our hospitals, every data center powering the American economy—they all require the same thing: electrons. They don’t care where those electrons come from, whether it’s natural gas, wind, solar, or nuclear. The American economy runs on electricity, and we need as many sources as possible to keep it running reliably and affordably.
True energy security comes from diversity—combining the lowest-cost generation flexible resources to create a resilient system. In fact, renewables make our natural gas fleet more valuable, not less. When wind and solar handle base load during peak production hours, natural gas plants can ramp up and down to fill gaps, operating more efficiently and extending their operational life. This complementary relationship maximizes the value of both our renewable investments and our existing natural gas infrastructure. The failed bills would have artificially constrained this optimal mix, forcing consumers to pay more for fewer electrons when we desperately need more of both.
The Policy Foundation for American Energy Jobs and Electrons
The Texas example should serve as a blueprint for sound federal policy. While Congress debates rolling back clean energy incentives, state leaders are demonstrating that the real choice isn’t between fossil fuels and renewables—it’s between energy abundance and artificial scarcity, between American jobs and missed opportunities, between meeting our growing need for electrons and falling short.
I support ramping down tax credits, but in a practical, sound way that doesn’t crash markets or destroy jobs overnight. The key is predictable, gradual transitions that allow businesses to plan and workers to adapt. Every American business, school, and hospital depends on a reliable flow of electrons. The next-generation energy workforce needs consistent, predictable policy frameworks that allow them to deploy their skills across all energy sectors to maximize electron production, whether those sectors are subsidized or competing on pure market terms.
When landmen can seamlessly move from negotiating oil and gas leases to securing wind farm agreements, when engineers can design both natural gas facilities and solar installations that work in perfect harmony, when entire communities from the Gulf Coast to West Texas can benefit from diverse energy development that maximizes the value of both our natural gas reserves and our renewable resources—that’s when America wins the electron race, regardless of the subsidy environment.
Could we see a similar shakeout in Washington with the House’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”? The parallels are striking. Just as Texas lawmakers discovered that attacking renewables would harm their own constituents and reduce available electrons, Senate Republicans may find themselves in a similar bind. With 81% of IRA investments flowing to Republican districts and the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake, the economic reality may prove just as compelling at the federal level as it did in Austin.
The Texas Model: Jobs, Heritage, and Energy Evolution
As Congress considers federal energy policy, they would do well to follow the Texas model my ancestors have lived for generations. The future belongs to states and nations that can harness all available energy resources efficiently and affordably, while providing clear career pathways for the workers who make it happen.
Both parties are guilty of pendulum swings, but this time can it be different where we reach across the energy sources divide and create the next generation of innovation with technology-neutral projects, sound policy, and instill confidence among the investment community? This means ramping down tax credits in a predictable way, this demands lower carbon management across all sources, and the technology exists today to make this vision a reality.
The failure of these anti-renewable bills isn’t just good news for clean energy advocates—it’s good news for anyone who believes in the Texas tradition of turning every available resource into prosperity, whether it comes from below ground or above, and for anyone who understands that American energy dominance depends on American energy workers having opportunities across the full spectrum of energy development, working together rather than in competition.