When looking for environmental success stories coming out of the Lone Star State, a couple really stand out. One is the amazing growth of wind energy. Texas is the king of wind energy, producing about 20 percent of the wind power generated in the United States. The other is an event that has become the nation’s most important and impressive environmental education effort, Earth Day Texas. Earth Day Texas, which is coming up this weekend (April 24-26) in Dallas, is the brainchild of Trammell S. Crow. It started out in 2010 as a local Dallas-centric Earth Day event, but has grown into a truly Texas-sized undertaking with state, national and global impact. Earth Day Texas attracts local and national political leaders, business leaders, conservation leaders and over 50,000 attendees. It provides each of them with an opportunity to learn about our most pressing environmental problems, discuss solutions, witness what others are doing to safeguard our planet, discover the latest green technologies, and learn how to do their part. This year’s event will feature presentations on topics, ranging from water conservation and wildlife protection, to renewable energy and environmental politics. There will be a showing of the powerful new film Racing Extinction, where an innovative team of artists and activists expose a hidden world of corruption and extinction that is truly shocking. Bat Conservation International will be there with live bats giving presentations on why bats are one of the most ecologically and economically important wildlife species, and yet one of the most threatened. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, Earth Day Texas has more exhibits, entertainment and presentations...
Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who orchestrated an armed standoff with federal officials last year over his refusal to pay two decades worth of grazing fees and fines, is back in the news. Late last month, he and his followers rallied in Carson City to support AB408, a radical (and unconstitutional) bill in the Nevada State Assembly, the purpose of which was to seize all U.S. owned lands, mineral rights and water rights in the state, and to block enforcement of federal law. That bill has since been gutted of those provisions, but Bundy is staying in the news. This weekend he plans a “Bundy Ranch Freedom Reunion” at his ranch. Bundy, who says he does not recognize the United States as “even existing, owes the government more than $1 million and has ignored countless court orders. That Bundy is still running around free and not behind bars is almost as perplexing as his crazy beliefs are. Bundy somehow believes that Nevada is a sovereign entity that is not bound by the U.S. constitution and not subject to federal law. He has apparently even went so far as to order the Clark County sheriff to disarm federal officials and tear down National Park entrance fee booths. His wacky views are more or less in line with those of the Sovereign Citizen Movement, which the FBI has expressed growing concern about. Check out recent CRS op-eds in the Las Vegas Review Journal and the Salt Lake Tribune, linked below, to read why Bundy and his followers are anti-America and anti-conservative. Las Vegas Review Journal: Bundy’s stance not in line with...
Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship (CRS) is pleased to announce the addition of Mark Richardson to its Senior Fellows program. Mark, whose professional life has provided him with diverse connections to the energy industry, brings to CRS a wealth of expertise in energy-related tax policy, financing and royalties. For much of his life he managed a dual career, both as an engineer in operations for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, and as a farmer. An oil and gas royalty owner, Mark has direct experience with the traditional energy and related policies, but he has also become a strong advocate of wind energy and other energy resources that support the farm economy in Kansas. He held the position of Plains States Coordinator for the Red State Renewable Alliance, and has been a member of both the Reno County (KS) Wind Energy Task Force and the Heartland Alliance for Regional Transmission. Mark has authored numerous articles and op-eds about energy policy, and has lobbied the Kansas Legislature and the state’s congressional delegation in support of policies that do not unfairly discriminate against renewable energy sources. He has a Masters degree of Business Administration with an emphasis on economics of regulated industries from Wichita State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Pittsburg State University. Living in Hutchinson, Kansas, Mark is a lifelong Republican and an active member of the community. He has served as a board member for the Hutchinson (KS) Historic Fox Theatre, Reno County (KS) Kansas Farm Bureau, El Cap Credit Union, Reno County (KS) Planning and Zoning Commission, Envista Credit Union Advisory Board, and the Hutchinson...
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released a report showing that wind and solar power generation outpaced coal and gas in 2014. Wind generation increased by more than any other power source and solar generation more than doubled. Equally impressive, wind energy is dominating new power generation going forward. Out of 20 gigawatts in electricity generating capacity utilities expect to add to the grid in 2015, wind energy will account for 9.8 gigawatts–more than any other energy source. Natural gas comes in second with 6.3 gigawatts and solar third with 2.2 gigawatts. Those three sources combined account for 91 percent of the added capacity. Perhaps this explains the current “war on renewables” being waged by groups like Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and the American Energy Alliance. These groups, which have close ties to the fossil fuel conglomerate Koch Industries, are in print and on the airwaves constantly demonizing wind and solar. Even worse, they do this under the pretense of championing conservatism and defending the free-market—not as the special interests shills they really are. Their attacks often center on the premise that wind and solar are somehow inferior to fossil fuels and that these energy sources only exist because they are being propped up by government subsidies. Nothing could be further from the truth. As the EIA data shows, utilities are more and more choosing wind and solar over coal and gas. Why? Because diversifying their fuel mix with wind and solar helps keep their fuel costs down and their electricity rates more stable. Fossil fuel prices are very volatile—as anyone who drives a car or truck can attest. They can...
For at least the past six months there has been a relentless campaign to do away with the production tax credit(PTC) for wind energy. This effort, waged largely under the conservative banner, is not at all what it seems. The groups and people that attack the tax incentive for wind energy often frame their concern as protecting taxpayer wallets or supporting a level energy playing field, yet they are completely silent on the plethora of tax breaks and other goodies showered on coal, oil and natural gas. A philosophical stance against government subsidized energy production that looks honestly at all energy-related incentives might have merit, but that is clearly not the case here. Instead, the attacks on wind are a special interest driven effort to make sure gas, oil and coal have a distinct tax advantage over wind energy. The one thing that links most, if not all, of those targeting the PTC is a connection to the large fossil fuel conglomerate Koch Industries. Groups like Americans for Prosperity, Heartland Institute, Heritage Foundation, American Jobs Alliance and American Energy Alliance all have ties to Koch and are all campaigning against the PTC. It is also worth noting that these groups are the same ones who were still peddling the notion that better automobile fuel efficiency equates to unsafe cars long after auto manufacturers—and the marketplace—had proved them wrong. They are also the ones who kept telling us that incandescent light bulbs had been banned even as improved incandescent bulbs, which met new energy standards, were already on store shelves. There is no underlying conservative basis for singling out wind energy, just the...
