Rick Perry fielded a question about energy subsidies during the December 15, 2011 Fox News Republican presidential debate in Souix City, Iowa.
Neil Cavuto, Fox News: Governor Perry, you have railed against the
special treatment afforded Solyndra, as have the other candidates here tonight,
and particularly the tax code incentives for green technology and allowances
that have been made for this industry.
But as Texas Governor, you have afforded the same attention
to the oil industry. Back in 2003, you signed a bill that reduced the tax payed
by some natural gas companies that had helped them reap since better than $7
billion in tax savings.
So I guess what I’m trying to say is, “Are you guilty of the
same behavior as Governor favoring an industry that you claim this President
has favoring the green industry?”
Rick Perry: Today’s the 220th anniversary of the
signing of the Bill of Rights and one of those, the 10th Amendment,
I like a lot.
And the reason is because that’s how our founding fathers
saw this country set up, where we had these laboratories of innovation.
It should be in the purview and the decision making process
of a state. If they want to put tax policies in place that helps make them be
more competitive.
We did it not only for the oil and gas industry, but we also
did it for the alternative energy industry and the wind industry.
They came in droves, made Texas the #1 wind energy producing
state in the nation.
But government shouldn’t be picking winners and losers from
Washington, D.C.
That’s the difference.
If in the states, I’ll promise you Terry Brandstead in this
state he knows how to put tax policy, regulatory policy in place to make his
state more competitive.
And you need 50 states out there competing with each other and Washington out of their hair.
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.
