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Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas becomes front line of GOP civil war over energy
AUSTIN — Texas has become ground zero in a GOP battle over energy, pitting a suburban populist right that seeks to throttle the state's renewables program against the mainline Republican business establishment. A similar red-on-red fight is taking place at the federal level, where Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R) has emerged as a leading voice calling for the full repeal of renewable energy tax credits established in 2022 under President Biden — setting himself against a group of Republican defenders of the subsidies. But the conflict has roots in Texas, where it reflects a more fundamental struggle over the core principles of the state GOP and the legacy of establishment Republicans such as former President and Gov. George W. Bush — an unlikely godfather of the Texas and U.S. renewables programs. The divisions are front and center in Austin as the legislative session reaches its last frenetic weeks, with largely rural GOP lawmakers pitted against those from the suburbs and exurbs. Bills targeting wind and solar are 'another attack on renewables that have responded to the market, that have met the needs of Texans and provided a lower cost utility rates,' state Rep. Drew Darby (R) told The Hill. 'Are they perfect? No. But do they have a place in the energy mix? Yes — and these bills are nothing more than an attack on their business model,' he said. Darby, who has emerged as a key GOP proponent of renewable energy, is hardly anti-carbon: One of his bills this session would shield oil and gas companies from liability for dumping treated fracking fluid in creeks and rivers. But his West Texas district hosts nearly 8 gigawatts of renewable energy production either installed or underway, promising billions in landowner royalties and local taxes. All of that, he said, would be at risk if the state Legislature passes H.B. 3356, which seeks to make existing wind and solar producers responsible for providing power 24 hours a day — a measure that one pro-renewables GOP aide called 'one of the worst energy bills I've ever seen.' That bill's sponsor, state Rep. Jared Patterson (R), who represents the conservative suburbs between Dallas and Fort Worth, argues that wind and solar have been 'a disaster' for the state, and that the cheap energy they provide at peak production — energy many conservatives believe exists only because of federal subsidies — has crowded out 'actually reliable power' from natural gas. 'The federal government is taking from one pocket to subsidize wind and solar, then the state takes from your other pocket to subsidize gas,' Patterson said. His legislation has stalled, opposed by bipartisan business interests fearing closures of renewable facilities. But a series of Senate bills setting strict requirements favoring gas and limiting renewable development have passed and now await action in the House. One bill that cleared the state Senate last month would require new electric supplies to be at least 50 percent natural gas-powered, effectively throttling construction of renewables in a world where new gas turbines are nearly impossible to come by. Another would impose new restrictions on where wind and solar can be built and create new points in the process for anyone within 25 miles to object. That latter bill addresses 'the recent proliferation of wind and solar facilities encroaching across Texas with no consideration or safeguards for landowners or the environment,' said state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R), who sponsored both bills and represents an exurban arc wrapping around Houston. The debate among lawmakers such as Darby and Patterson is in part economic, as both acknowledged: Patterson's district has no renewables, while for Darby's they are a key economic lifeline. But ideology could play a bigger role. Kolkhorst and state Sen. Kevin Sparks (R), who sponsored his chamber's version of Patterson's bill, both have substantial renewables-driven revenue to schools and local governments in their districts — $600 million for her, more than $4 billion for him. Nonetheless, they are at the forefront of a rebellion against the renewable policies set by earlier Republicans such as Bush and former Gov. Rick Perry, who championed wind and solar. Under those leaders, a pro-renewable line was something close to GOP dogma. As governor, Bush presided over the electric market deregulation that allowed renewables to enter the Texas market — support he continued as president. Perry, in turn, also threw his support behind energy expansion, backing the creation of high-capacity electric lines to bring power from the new West Texas wind farms east to the booming cities. To former state Rep. John Davis (R), who supported the legislation that created those transmission corridors, and whose land in the Hill Country west of Austin holds seven windmills, the state renewables programs have been a boon. The regular checks from wind royalties bring a welcome consistency to agricultural life — allowing him to pay for needed infrastructure, including the dogs and fences that keep coyotes and bobcats from killing his baby goats. 'Wind turbines, I don't have to mark them or castrate them or give them shots or medicine,' Davis said. 'I used to cuss at the wind. Now I say, 'turn baby turn.'' But while that was a relatively uncontroversial position in 2015, Davis said, by 2021 it was something he had to 'whisper' — the result of a new attack on the idea of 'all of the above energy,' once a cornerstone of the Bush and Perry platforms. Davis credited that turn to an anti-renewables push as one funded by right-wing billionaires such as Tim Dunn and Farris and Dan Wilks. Others pointed to the influence of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), whose donors include Dunn and whose former directors include Kevin Roberts, the Heritage Foundation head who oversaw the creation of Project 2025. That controversial playbook called for a full repeal of federal support for clean energy and a new government-led suppression of 'extreme 'green' policies' that its authors argued aimed at 'control of people and the economy,' and which they said had to be defeated before anything like a free market could emerge. Brent Bennett, head of TPPF's energy practice, argues that a focus on all forms of energy has been a dangerous mistake and rejects the bipartisan idea that more energy jobs are inherently a good thing. 'If one person could produce all the energy in the world, we'd be fabulously wealthy,' Bennett said. So far, the state's business lobby has blunted action against renewables, which a wide array of experts, including former leaders at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the state utility regulator, have warned would raise electricity prices and risk blackouts. After vehement opposition from the lobby, Bennett noted, the law that would have required wind and solar to provide power around the clock 'is almost totally gutted,' including exempting projects with existing contracts. To Darby, the pro-renewable representative from West Texas, opposition from groups such as TPPF isn't hard to explain. 'They've been on the opposite side of a lot of these issues,' he said. 'I mean, they are funded by oil and gas interested people.' Renewables, he added, 'are producing electrons that this state relies upon. Do we need more? I think we need a mix. We're going to see more solar, more battery storage. I'm supportive of hydrogen, I'm supportive of nuclear, I'm supportive of geothermal, brine mining. We need all of that we're going to need if we have a growing state.' If the anti-renewables bills passed, he said, 'landowners would be unable to achieve full value for their land. School districts, property appraisal districts would lose the value associated with those projects, and Texas would lose the energy associated with their generation.' 'What is good in that?' he asked. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
26-05-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Texas becomes front line of GOP civil war over energy
AUSTIN — Texas has become ground zero in a GOP battle over energy, pitting a suburban populist right that seeks to throttle the state's renewables program against the mainline Republican business establishment. A similar red-on-red fight is taking place at the federal level, where Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R) has emerged as a leading voice calling for the full repeal of renewable energy tax credits established in 2022 under President Biden — setting himself against a group of Republican defenders of the subsidies. But the conflict has roots in Texas, where it reflects a more fundamental struggle over the core principles of the state GOP and the legacy of establishment Republicans such as former President and Gov. George W. Bush — an unlikely godfather of the Texas and U.S. renewables programs. The divisions are front and center in Austin as the legislative session reaches its last frenetic weeks, with largely rural GOP lawmakers pitted against those from the suburbs and exurbs. Bills targeting wind and solar are 'another attack on renewables that have responded to the market, that have met the needs of Texans and provided a lower cost utility rates,' state Rep. Drew Darby (R) told The Hill. 'Are they perfect? No. But do they have a place in the energy mix? Yes — and these bills are nothing more than an attack on their business model,' he said. Darby, who has emerged as a key GOP proponent of renewable energy, is hardly anti-carbon: One of his bills this session would shield oil and gas companies from liability for dumping treated fracking fluid in creeks and rivers. But his West Texas district hosts nearly 8 gigawatts of renewable energy production either installed or underway, promising billions in landowner royalties and local taxes. All of that, he said, would be at risk if the state Legislature passes H.B. 3356, which seeks to make existing wind and solar producers responsible for providing power 24 hours a day — a measure that one pro-renewables GOP aide called 'one of the worst energy bills I've ever seen.' That bill's sponsor, state Rep. Jared Patterson (R), who represents the conservative suburbs between Dallas and Fort Worth, argues that wind and solar have been 'a disaster' for the state, and that the cheap energy they provide at peak production — energy many conservatives believe exists only because of federal subsidies — has crowded out 'actually reliable power' from natural gas. 'The federal government is taking from one pocket to subsidize wind and solar, then the state takes from your other pocket to subsidize gas,' Patterson said. His legislation has stalled, opposed by bipartisan business interests fearing closures of renewable facilities. But a series of Senate bills setting strict requirements favoring gas and limiting renewable development have passed and now await action in the House. One bill that cleared the state Senate last month would require new electric supplies to be at least 50 percent natural gas-powered, effectively throttling construction of renewables in a world where new gas turbines are nearly impossible to come by. Another would impose new restrictions on where wind and solar can be built and create new points in the process for anyone within 25 miles to object. That latter bill addresses 'the recent proliferation of wind and solar facilities encroaching across Texas with no consideration or safeguards for landowners or the environment,' said state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R), who sponsored both bills and represents an exurban arc wrapping around Houston. The debate among lawmakers such as Darby and Patterson is in part economic, as both acknowledged: Patterson's district has no renewables, while for Darby's they are a key economic lifeline. But ideology could play a bigger role. Kolkhorst and state Sen. Kevin Sparks (R), who sponsored his chamber's version of Patterson's bill, both have substantial renewables-driven revenue to schools and local governments in their districts — $600 million for her, more than $4 billion for him. Nonetheless, they are at the forefront of a rebellion against the renewable policies set by earlier Republicans such as Bush and former Gov. Rick Perry, who championed wind and solar. Under those leaders, a pro-renewable line was something close to GOP dogma. As governor, Bush presided over the electric market deregulation that allowed renewables to enter the Texas market — support he continued as president. Perry, in turn, also threw his support behind energy expansion, backing the creation of high-capacity electric lines to bring power from the new West Texas wind farms east to the booming cities. To former state Rep. John Davis (R), who supported the legislation that created those transmission corridors, and whose land in the Hill Country west of Austin holds seven windmills, the state renewables programs have been a boon. The regular checks from wind royalties bring a welcome consistency to agricultural life — allowing him to pay for needed infrastructure, including the dogs and fences that keep coyotes and bobcats from killing his baby goats. 'Wind turbines, I don't have to mark them or castrate them or give them shots or medicine,' Davis said. 'I used to cuss at the wind. Now I say, 'turn baby turn.'' But while that was a relatively uncontroversial position in 2015, Davis said, by 2021 it was something he had to 'whisper' — the result of a new attack on the idea of 'all of the above energy,' once a cornerstone of the Bush and Perry platforms. Davis credited that turn to an anti-renewables push as one funded by right-wing billionaires such as Tim Dunn and Farris and Dan Wilks. Others pointed to the influence of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), whose donors include Dunn and whose former directors include Kevin Roberts, the Heritage Foundation head who oversaw the creation of Project 2025. That controversial playbook called for a full repeal of federal support for clean energy and a new government-led suppression of 'extreme 'green' policies' that its authors argued aimed at 'control of people and the economy,' and which they said had to be defeated before anything like a free market could emerge. Brent Bennett, head of TPPF's energy practice, argues that a focus on all forms of energy has been a dangerous mistake and rejects the bipartisan idea that more energy jobs are inherently a good thing. 'If one person could produce all the energy in the world, we'd be fabulously wealthy,' Bennett said. So far, the state's business lobby has blunted action against renewables, which a wide array of experts, including former leaders at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the state utility regulator, have warned would raise electricity prices and risk blackouts. After vehement opposition from the lobby, Bennett noted, the law that would have required wind and solar to provide power around the clock 'is almost totally gutted,' including exempting projects with existing contracts. To Darby, the pro-renewable representative from West Texas, opposition from groups such as TPPF isn't hard to explain. 'They've been on the opposite side of a lot of these issues,' he said. 'I mean, they are funded by oil and gas interested people.' Renewables, he added, 'are producing electrons that this state relies upon. Do we need more? I think we need a mix. We're going to see more solar, more battery storage. I'm supportive of hydrogen, I'm supportive of nuclear, I'm supportive of geothermal, brine mining. We need all of that we're going to need if we have a growing state.' If the anti-renewables bills passed, he said, 'landowners would be unable to achieve full value for their land. School districts, property appraisal districts would lose the value associated with those projects, and Texas would lose the energy associated with their generation.' 'What is good in that?' he asked.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SAVE Act protesters in Willmar, Minnesota, say law would restrict voting access
May 22---- Demonstrators gathered under rainy skies to rally in favor of voting rights Wednesday in Willmar. In lieu of a planned march on First Street, about 50 demonstrators who came to Rice Park in their coats and rain ponchos instead occupied the picnic shelter at the park for approximately one hour Wednesday evening. Karen Kraemer, president of the Willmar Area League of Women Voters, said in her opening statement: "We work very hard to be non-partisan, but we are not neutral," characterizing the as a dangerous step toward voter suppression. The SAVE Act is sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican. The bill would require people to provide documentary proof of their U.S. citizenship, such as a birth certificate or U.S. passport, in order to vote in federal elections. The bill passed in the U.S. House in March on a mostly party-line vote and has since been sent to the U.S. Senate. Republicans, including Trump, have campaigned on and continue to press the idea that there is widespread voting by non-citizens, falsely claiming that it could unfairly swing elections despite the fact that multiple studies, including one at Minnesota's University of St. Thomas, have shown Voting rights advocates say the legislation seeks to fix a "non-issue," as it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote and doing so could result in criminal charges and possible deportation. Critics of the SAVE Act also say the bill as written would disenfranchise millions of legitimate American voters, ultimately leading to fewer people being able to vote in the same elections. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told a Senate Rules Committee spotlight hearing on May 14 that the legislation "poses one of the greatest threats to the freedom to vote in our lifetime," according to his prepared remarks. He said it would keep millions of eligible Americans from the polls. Kraemer referenced information shared by Secretary Simon and Deirdre Schiefling, a national political advocacy director with the American Civil Liberties Union, who spoke in a May 20 co-hosted by the Minnesota League of Women Voters, ACLU of Minnesota and others. For example, Kraemer stated that had the SAVE Act been in place last year, she would have had trouble helping her 96-year-old mother register to vote. Kraemer said she had to help her mother move from a house to an apartment in 2024. Though all states in the U.S. had their own method of keeping birth records since about 1919, there was no standardized version of these records until the 1930s, according to a 2012 published in the "Journal of Perinatology." Kraemer's mother was born in 1928. Even if Kraemer could have obtained a birth certificate for her mother, it may not have met the standard set by the SAVE Act. Kraemer also stated that, due to her mother's age, both her driver's license and passport are expired and would not have been sufficient to allow her to register if the provisions of the SAVE Act were in force. "The real issue is that 90 million people did not vote in the last election," Kraemer said. "And 72 million people are eligible to vote but are not registered. Our goal should be to get people registered to vote, that's always been the goal of the League of Women Voters." One protester, Dr. Kathy Nelson-Hund, felt compelled to speak among the demonstrators, urging them to reach out to young people and get them involved stating, "They are our future. They need to know what is happening before it is too late," she said. A family medicine physician who practiced in Willmar until her recent retirement, Nelson-Hund told the West Central Tribune that while she was at Wednesday's rally she thought about the discrimination she faced early in her career being one of few women practicing medicine at the time. "My medical opinions were questioned a lot by my colleagues just because I was a woman," she said. Nelson-Hund said she remembers when married women would still need permission from their husbands to open credit card accounts. She thinks the SAVE Act could very well be another hoop that young women will have to jump through in order to secure their right to vote. "They just don't know how frightening that can be," she said.
CNBC
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CNBC
Rep. Chip Roy on House tax bill: Hope the Senate addresses issues around deficit and Medicaid
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the passage of President Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill in the House, what he hopes the Senate addresses in their bill, increase in the SALT deduction cap, future of Medicaid, and more.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' heads to House-wide vote after key committee victory
President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" could be headed for a House-wide vote as soon as Wednesday night after its approval by a key committee in an 8-4 vote. The House Rules Committee, the gatekeeper for most legislation before it gets to the full chamber, first met at 1 a.m. Wednesday to advance the massive bill in time for Speaker Mike Johnson's Memorial Day deadline for sending it to the Senate. The panel adjourned shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday after all four Democrats voted against the measure and all present Republicans voted for it. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, was the lone lawmaker to miss the vote. Proceedings crept on for hours as Democrats on the committee repeatedly accursed Republicans of trying to move the bill "in the dead of night" and of trying to raise costs for working class families at the expense of the wealthy. White House Urges Immediate Vote On Gop's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Democratic lawmakers also dragged out the process with dozens of amendments that stretched from early Tuesday well into Wednesday. Read On The Fox News App Republicans, meanwhile, contended the bill is aimed at boosting small businesses, farmers, and low- and middle-income families, while reducing waste, fraud, and abuse in the government safety net. In a sign of the meeting's high stakes, Johnson, R-La., himself visited with committee Republicans shortly before 1 a.m. and then again just after sunrise. But the committee kicked off its meeting to advance the bill with several key outstanding issues – blue state Republicans pushing for a raise in state and local tax (SALT) deduction caps, and conservatives demanding stricter work requirement rules for Medicaid as well as a full repeal of green energy subsidies granted in former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). A long-awaited amendment to the legislation aimed at fixing those issues debuted around 9 p.m. on Wednesday evening. House Freedom Caucus Heading To White House After Delay Play On Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' The amendment would speed up the implementation of Medicaid work requirements for certain able-bodied recipients from 2029 to December 2026, and award states that did not follow Obamacare-era expansion plans with more federal would also end a host of green energy tax subsidies by 2028 if they did not demonstrate relatively quick return on investment. Democrats, meanwhile, accused Republicans of hastily trying to change the legislation without proper notice. Johnson told Fox News Digital during his Wednesday 1 a.m. that he was "very close" to a deal with divided House GOP factions. Returning from that meeting, Johnson signaled the House would press ahead with its vote either late Wednesday or early Thursday. But the legislation's passage through the House Rules Committee does not necessarily mean it will fare well in a House-wide vote. A pair of House Rules Committee members, Roy and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and were two of the conservative House Freedom Caucus members who had called for the House-wide vote to be delayed on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the White House bore down hard on those rebels, demanding a vote "immediately" in an official statement of policy that backed the House GOP bill. Several of those fiscal hawks were more optimistic after a meeting at the White House with Trump and Johnson, however. Republicans are working to pass Trump's policies on tax, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt all in one massive bill via the budget reconciliation process. Budget reconciliation lowers the Senate's threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, thereby allowing the party in power to skirt the minority — in this case, Democrats — to pass sweeping pieces of legislation, provided they deal with the federal budget, taxation or the national debt. House Republicans are hoping to advance Trump's bill through the House and Senate by the Fourth of article source: Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' heads to House-wide vote after key committee victory
