Uteuova, A. (February 26, 2023). Red states leading the US in solar and wind production.
The Guardian. Retrieved July 29, 2023 from,
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/26/red-states-lead-usa-renewable-e
nergy-wind-solar-power
National wind and solar capacity has grown immensely since 2021 because of the Biden Administration and their billions of dollars available for renewable energy projects. According to Jennifer Brady, a senior data analyst at Climate Central, “We are moving closer to the goals we need to reach in order to hit net zero, we have a free natural resource in the form of weather that can be captured to generate power ”. New reports show that Iowa and Oklahoma lead the nation in wind power production, while California and Florida lead solar power production. However Texas is shown to lead in both wind and solar.
Seeing as Texas leads in both wind and solar production, I’m wondering what that state is doing in order to be at the top of the table, and what other states need to do in order to achieve this. The Biden Administration is said to have billions for the needed energy projects however there hasn’t been much action regarding these projects in any other state. On the other hand, the article emphasizes on the great improvements the US is consistently making on energy productions and how the data graphs repeatedly change and grow. As stated in the article, we are moving closer to our set goals and hopefully within reach. Related to environmental science, this article surfaced an idea regarding the use of natural resources in the form of weather to generate power, which means the environment would be put to use.
Actually a pretty positive read since it means that, despite ideologically differences, both political parties in the US seem to be investing in renewable energy.
Very interesting article, it surprised me to read that red states are the leaders in things that are generally environmentally positive. It makes me think that renewable energy really will be the future majority of the US’ energy since if both parties can actually agree on something there’s nothing that can really hold it back.
It is really great that these states that are not known for being environmentally positive are improving and surpassing. I think the reason Texas is leading is because of the amount of open space they have for wind turbines and solar panels to go with the Texas sun. Do we think that Texas will influence other red states to increase their renewable source production?