Rick Perry: Texas #1 for wind power

It turns out Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry isn’t strictly an oil man. Perry embraced wind power during his October 28, 2011 interview with the Manchester, New Hampshire based Union Leader:

And I’m kind of an all of the above fellow. Texas is now the number wind energy producing state. You know that people think, “Oh, Texas. Yeah, it’s easy to be governor of Texas. You’ve got oil and natural gas.” We’ve only had 2 percent increase in our oil and gas production in the last decade.

As Governor of Texas, Perry has been a big advocate of wind power. Here he is announcing an $8.4 million investment in wind energy research and development on July 26, 2010: 

Transcript:

This is a big day for Texas Tech for Texas and for everyone who dreams of energy independence.

As we pursue that goal, which is so essential to our nation's economic health and security people sometimes ask me, what's the best energy strategy for Texas?

Is it wind? Solar? Biomass? Clean coal? Next generation nuclear?

My answer is four simple words: "all of the above."

That's exactly the strategy we're pursuing in Texas, and it's working which shouldn't surprise anyone because Texas knows energy.

So I am here today to announce a groundbreaking partnership between the public and private sector that will continue our state's reign as America's energy producer.

Since the first gusher at Spindletop, Texas has powered the nation.

Thanks to a new generation of hard-working visionaries, Texas is leading the way in renewable energy as well.

Since this room is full of experts, I'll spare you a lengthy discussion of wind energy's benefits but I do want to mention a few highlights of our state's success.

I'm proud that we lead the nation in installed wind generation capacity, because it took some serious work to reach first place.

Of course, there's no shortage of wind in Texas, but it took a lot of bold entrepreneurs to make it a significant source of our power.

Partnered with some of the brightest minds in the energy business from the public and private sector and the experts at world-class universities like Texas Tech these folks have achieved remarkable success in a relatively short time.

Way back in 2005, I signed legislation that set some lofty goals 5,880 megawatts of renewable production capacity by 2015 and 10,000 megawatts by 2025. 

In true Texas style, we've already hit those marks and are building out capacity faster than any other U.S. state.

In just the last three years, about half of the 10,000-plus megawatts of renewable energy that is providing power to our energy grids...came online.

This effort and the accompanying $18 billion in investment have helped us meet our state's energy needs while helping to lower electricity prices for all Texans.

The work continues as we add wind capacity and work to connect these wind farms to the grid and our major cities.

That's a daunting task on its own but Texans don't back down from a challenge particularly one that means so much to our future.
That future includes the expanding energy needs of a population that grows by about 1,000 people per day and an economy that has already added more than 166,000 new jobs this year more jobs than any other state.

Fortunately, this new partnership between the National Institute for Sustainable Energy and the National Wind Resource Center will strengthen our position as America's wind power leader and keep us moving toward energy independence.

This partnership will help speed the integration of our massive wind resources with our power grid and set standards other states can follow in pursuit of our success.

The regional support for this partnership is unprecedented with communities spanning over 80,000 square miles from Dumas to San Angelo and Abilene to Odessa.

This partnership also represents unparalleled education and training opportunities for our future energy workforce. Texas Tech is home to the nation's first PhD in Wind Technology and Texas State Technical College established the first wind technician certification in the state.

This partnership is based on exceptional collaborations merging the resources and expertise of universities up and down the U.S. wind corridor with wind industry experts from all over the globe and key international wind associations.

The state of Texas is also onboard, investing $8 million through our Emerging Technology Fund which was created to accelerate ideas formed in our universities into the marketplace.

Since its founding, the ETF has invested nearly $154 million in 111 early-stage companies throughout Texas and leveraged an additional $161 million in university and industry investments.

With this research superiority investment, this partnership will take renewable energy research and commercialization to the next level while attracting additional investment from the private sector.

The result of all this hard work, collaboration and investment is a "game changing" model for industry in Texas and across the nation.

As this project reaches critical mass, I am confident it will draw even more bright minds yield a better-trained energy workforce and keep Texas moving forward as America's energy leader.

Congratulations on this initiative and Godspeed.

May God bless you, and, through you, may He continue to bless the Great State of Texas.

Yucca Mountain a focus of Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas, NV

The question of what to do with the nation’s nuclear waste popped up at the October 18, 2011 CNN Western Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“My question for you is, do you support opening the national nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain?” asked a member of the audience.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich provided a vague, non-answer, despite the best efforts of moderator Anderson Cooper:

Gingrich: Look, we -- we worked on this when I was speaker. I think that it has to be looked at scientifically. But I think at some point we have to find a safe method of taking care of nuclear waste. And today, because this has been caught up in a political fight, we have small units of nuclear waste all over this country in a way that is vastly more dangerous to the United States than finding a method of keeping it in a very, very deep place that would be able to sustain 10,000 or 20,000 and 30,000 years of geological safety. 



Cooper: Is Yucca Mountain that place? 



Gingrich: I'm not a scientist. I mean, Yucca Mountain certainly was picked by the scientific community as one of the safest places in the United States. It has always had very deep opposition here in Nevada. And, frankly...


Cooper: You were for opening it in Congress, right? 



Gingrich: Huh?



Cooper: When you were in the Congress, you were... 


Gingrich: When I was in Congress, frankly, I worked with the Nevada delegation to make sure that there was time for scientific studies. But we have to find some method of finding a very geologically stable place, and most geologists believe that, in fact, Yucca Mountain is that.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul delivered a straightforward response, opposing the idea of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain:

Paul: Yes. Yes, I've -- I've opposed this. We've had votes in the Congress. There was a time when I voted with two other individuals, the two congressmen from Nevada. And I approach it from a state's rights position. What right does 49 states have to punish one state and say, "We're going to put our garbage in your state"? I think that's wrong. 



But I think it's very serious. I think it's very serious. But quite frankly, the government shouldn't be in the business of subsidizing any form of energy. And nuclear energy, I think, is a good source of energy, but they still get subsidies. Then they assume this responsibility. Then we as politicians and the bureaucrats get involved in this. And then we get involved with which state's going to get stuck with the garbage. 


So I would say, the more the free market handles this and the more you deal with property rights and no subsidies to any form of energy, the easier this problem would be solved. 



Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney concurred with Ron Paul:

Romney: Congressman Paul was right on that. 



I don't always agree with him, but I do on that. The -- the idea that 49 states can tell Nevada, "We want to give you our nuclear waste," doesn't make a lot of sense. I think the people of Nevada ought to have the final say as to whether they want that, and my guess is that for them to say yes to something like that, someone's going to have to offer them a pretty good deal, as opposed to having the federal government jam it down their throat.

And by the way, if -- if Nevada says, "Look, we don't want it," then let other states make bids and say, hey, look, we'll take it. Here's a geological site that we've evaluated. Here's the compensation we want for taking it. We want you electric companies around the country that are using nuclear fuel to compensate us a certain amount per kilowatt hour, a certain amount per ton of this stuff that comes. 


Let -- let the free market work. And on that basis, the places that are geologically safe, according to science, and where the people say the deal's a good one will decide where we put this stuff. That's the right course for America.

Rick Perry also opposed the idea of storing the nation's nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain:

Perry: You know, from time to time, Mitt and I don't agree. But on this one, he's hit it, the nail, right on the head. And I'll just add that when you think about France, who gets over 70 percent of their energy from nuclear power, the idea that they deal with this issue, that their glassification, and that the innovation -- and, Congressman Paul, you're correct when it comes to allowing the states to compete with each other. That is the answer to this. 



We need to have a -- a -- a discussion in -- in this country about our 10th Amendment and the appropriateness of it, as it's been eroded by Washington, D.C., for all these many years, whether it's health care, whether it's education, or whether it's dealing with energy. We don't need to be subsidizing energy in any form or fashion, allow the states to make the decision. And some state out there will see the economic issue, and they will have it in their state.

Federal government photo of Yucca Mountain

A transcript of the October 18, 2011 CNN Western Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas, Nevada is now available online:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1110/18/se.05.html