Texas Senate Turns Its Back on Clean Energy Jobs and Water-Saving Solution

(AUSTIN – April 14, 2015) The Texas Senate voted in favor today of Senate Bill (SB) 931, sponsored by Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay), which would repeal Texas’ Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) – the sixteen year-old law that made Texas a wind powerhouse. With this bill, Fraser would make it substantially harder for electric utilities to meet national clean air rules and he would put greater strain on the state’s scarce water supply, as wind energy uses virtually zero water to produce electricity, unlike fossil fuel power plants.     

“I don’t understand why Senator Fraser would betray the good people of Abilene and Sweetwater, Texas. Our state’s RPS created thousands jobs that cannot be outsourced, mostly in rural West Texas, including his own district. It also supported ranchers and farmers when the drought crippled our agricultural sector and continues to be a source of millions of dollars in capital investments for Texas. Wind energy is a point of pride for Texas, but Fraser – and all those who voted in favor of SB 931 – would rather erase our success for the sake of polluting power plants.”

• Jim Marston, Regional Director of EDF’s Texas Office