Will Rick Perry Save Wind Energy At DOE?

Will Rick Perry's pro-wind power stance carry on in the Trump administration? Choice of former Texas governor to lead energy department is a potentially encouraging sign for those alarmed by Trump’s nomination of climate deniers

Tom McCarthy, 15 December 2016 (UK Guardian)

“…[Environmental activists in Texas say former Governor Rick Perry, now nominated to head Trump administration Department of Energy, defended TXU’s 2005 bid to build coal plants because of the utility’s 2001 to 2011] $633,575 in campaign contributions to Perry…But the nomination of Perry, who presided as governor over an explosion of wind power infrastructure in Texas, has been taken in some corners as a potentially encouraging sign…Perry – who has firsthand experience of how wind power can create jobs, make money for landowners and drive energy prices down for consumers – could help guide the Trump administration in the direction of renewables…The success of the Texas experiment with wind power under Perry is not disputed. In 2006, the governor signed legislation that raised benchmarks for the production of wind power and promoted environmentally sensitive siting for transmission lines. The legislation is credited with creating tens of thousands of jobs in the wind industry and attracting tens of billions of dollars in investment…[Perry is not an environmentalist in any meaningful sense of the word, but was] a chief executive with an eye on growing the economy and keeping business happy…[T]here is concern that the job of energy secretary could overwhelm Perry…[before he gets to] transmission lines…” click here for more

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