Sunrise Over Austin - Plutor's Flickr photostream/Creative Commons

Ahhhhh the State of Texas: cowboy hats, Big Oil, BBQ, steers…and solar power?  Well that’s exactly what lawmakers in the Lone Star State are striving for in their current legislative session, dubbed the “solar session.” And perhaps even more surprising for the generally politically conservative state, it’s using government, of all things, to push forward private industry.

As Texas state representative Mark Strama told the New York Times‘ Green Inc. blog, “It just seems like everybody recognizes our leadership in wind, and that government policy got us where we are today in wind.”  It did indeed.  Bold action by the Texas state government cleared the way for a $4.9 Billion high power transmission line project to bring electricity generated from wind in West Texas to high density urban areas like Dallas-Fort Worth back when Barack Obama was still the junior Senator from Illinois.Right now there are over 50 bills before the Texas state legislature promoting some form of solar power.  Let’s hope some of these pass and bring the energy industry even further into the future.

You can takepart in supporting solar energy by checking out the Solar Energy Industry Association.

LINKS:

NY Times: Green Inc.: Texas Aims for Solar Dominance

Austin-American Statesman: Will rural Republicans support rooftop solar power in Texas cities?

Dallas Morning News: Texas’ clean, bright future