In the U.S., Renewable Energy Making Slow Progress

People sometimes ask why the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources is taking so long.  Well, here’s a good example: Last month the governor of Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott, signed a law banning state investments in businesses that cut their ties to the fossil fuel industry.

Similarly, throughout Trump’s entire term in office, the Department of Energy was working feverishly to protect the coal industry from falling into obsolescence, as the costs of operating coal-fired power plants had risen to a point that, without governmental support, they would have been shuttered.

Corruption is the standard mode of business in American lawmaking, and as long as that remains true, we can expect very slow progress in our attempts to prevent this planet from baking.