Going Green: Texas v. Pennsylvania

Is Texas Becoming A Stellar Green State?
What About Pennsylvania?
May 6, 2018
From Pennsylvania / the Post-Journal
By James Colby
 
 
Here is my Earth Day reflection: No single person, politician, political party, or nation can solve the climate-change or sustainability crisis. The responsibility falls on every human being on planet Earth. Young and old, left and right, and rural and urban citizens must unite, collaborate, and cooperate.
Business and industry, and federal, state, and local politicians must enact public policy that reflects sustainability. The first Earth Day” (1970) ... the left and right united to change the American landscape and the world. Clean water, air, and soil became priorities, and the EPA was established to advance these goals.
Today, many citizens feel helpless and ask this: “how can I help?” Some individuals think environmental issues are not important or real… or not concerns of their friends, family, church members, or talk-show hosts. If you are in this group, please consider this fact: Texas is not only Red, but Green. Many Texas Republicans view green living as excellent political and business goals, and reflect fiscal responsibility.
It is a fact: clean, renewable energies, economies, and jobs are now embraced by Americans of all ideologies. Texas, known for big business, big oil, and all sizes of pickup trucks is transforming into an environmental beacon.
“Here is the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey, my favorite talk radio personality (and conservative), stated each day as he told his back stories that included historical facts rather than inflammatory rhetoric.
Texas is a stellar Green state. Its true! Texas produces the largest amount of wind energy in America. More than Iowa, California, and Oklahoma combined, the states that rank second, third and fourth. The 781.5MW Roscoe Wind Farm in Texas, US, currently ranks as the world’s third largest wind farm.
“Georgetown, Texas, an exurb of Austin with a population of 50,000, is one of the first cities in the country to be 100 percent powered by renewable energy (solar and wind).” San Antonio, Texas, recently ranked number seven on the list of top solar cities in the US, according to new research from Environment America.
Climate Connections notes that “General Motors aims to make an SUV plant in Arlington, Texas, 100-percent wind-powered by 2018… The Arlington plant makes more than 1,000 SUV’s a day.” This is impressive, forward thinking, and sustainable.
Trammell S. Crow recently wrote an article in the Dallas News with this headline, “The Texas bullet train marries environmentalism and capitalism.” Crow goes on to explain:
As a self-described green Republican, I’ve spent years building bridges between conservatives and progressives. I believe there’s a positive intersection where capitalism and environmental consciousness co-exist, creating value and prosperity for all involved.
We’ve already seen signs of that in Texas in EARTHx, a nonprofit education and awareness group that I founded in 2011. It has turned a four-day Dallas-based conference and exhibition about Earth Day into a national event to reconcile economy and ecology, Republicans and Democrats.
If one looks at the clean energy facts, there are as many red states as blue states reducing carbon emissions by switching to clean renewable energies, economies, and jobs. Will Chautuqua County, Pennsylvania, be part of the new green economic visions?
Ask Chautauqua County’s politicians how they are moving our region ahead...
○
Category:Alternative Agriculture
Category:Anthropocene
Category:Atmospheric Science
Category:Citizen Science
Category:Civil Rights
Category:Clean Air
Category:Clean Water
Category:Climate Change
Category:Democratization of Space
Category:Digital Citizen
Category:Digital Rights
Category:Earth
Category:Eco-nomics
Category:EOS eco Operating System
Category:Earth360
Category:EarthPOV
Category:Earth Observations
Category:Earth Science
Category:Ecofeminism
Category:Ecology Studies
Category:Education
Category:Energy
Category:Environmental Laws
Category:Environmental Protection
Category:Environmental Security
Category:Environmental Security, National Security
Category:Fossil Fuels
Category:Global Security
Category:Global Warming
Category:Green Best Practices
Category:Green Networking
Category:Green Politics
Category:Health
Category:Human Rights
Category:Natural Resources
Category:Networking
Category:New Definitions of National Security
Category:Pennsylvania
Category:Planet Citizen
Category:Planet Citizens
Category:Planet Scientist
Category:Planet Citizens, Planet Scientists
Category:Renewable Energy
Category:Sea-Level Rise & Mitigation
Category:Seventh Generation Sustainability
Category:Solar Energy
Category:Strategic Demands
Category:Sustainability
Category:Sustainability Policies
Category:Texas
Category:ThinBlueLayer
Category:US Environmental Protection Agency
Category:Water Quality
Category:Whole Earth
Category:Wildlife‎