Environment Texas Statement on Fossil Fuel Industry funded Think Tank Report on Climate Change Legislation

AUSTIN – Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation will be releasing a report with a one-sided, non-comprehensive, and biased look at what climate change legislation would mean to Texas. In today’s Houston Chronicle, energy writer Tom Fowler writes, “Proposed U.S. climate change laws could cut Texas’ manufacturing output by more than 5 percent and increase electric prices by as much as 52 percent by 2030, according to a study to be unveiled today by a conservative Texas think tank.” This report, however, fails to take into account the net benefits that increases in renewable energy and efficiency would provide to the Texas economy. 

“Transitioning to a clean energy economy is going to require changes in Texas industry. Even absent global warming legislation, the oil industry won’t last forever. But we can get ahead of the curve and invest in energy sources that won’t run out, like solar and wind, and make sure Texas maintains its role as energy capital of the world,” said Environment Texas Director Luke Metzger. 

The University of Texas’ IC2 Institute, for example, estimates “Texas could generate 123,000 new high-wage, technology-related, advanced manufacturing and electrical services jobs by 2020 by actively moving toward solar power.” The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy estimates that the existing energy efficiency provisions in Waxman Markey would create 19,900 new jobs in Texas and save the average household $246 a year in electricity costs, even more if Congress was more aggressive on investing in efficiency. 

The report also has some important factual errors, such as:

• The claim that CO2 emissions have fallen in Texas due, in part, to an increased share of nuclear power in electricity production. No new nukes have come online recently. In fact, a recent Environment Texas report shows that carbon emissions have fallen due to an increased share of wind and natural gas in our state’s electricity mix. 
• The report also claims that wind is a “high cost technology”, but the PUC has found that “Wind generation has had the impact of reducing wholesale and retail prices of electricity” and “For each additional 1,000 MW of wind that was produced, the analysis showed that the clearing price in the balancing energy market fell by $2.38.” PUC Scope of Competition report, pg 65 http://www.puc.state.tx.us/electric/reports/scope/index.cfm

In addition, Texas Public Policy Foundation’s funding sources suggest that it lacks the independence to properly analyze or study any policies that affects the future of the fossil fuel industry. As Environmental Defense Fund states on its website, “over the past 10 years, the Texas Public Policy Foundation has received more than $450,000 in funding from oil industry related foundations, including the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Claude R. Lamb Charitable Foundation.” – SourceWatch.org, ExxonSecrets.org 

“Environment Texas calls on our congressional leaders to pass comprehensive, climate change legislation that will put our country and our state on a clear path to the clean energy economy of the future,” concluded Metzger. 

Environment Texas is a state-based, citizen-funded environmental organization working for clean air, clean water, and open space.