Global Warming In The News

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Texas, the nation's baddest greenhouse gas hog, is also leading the U.S. in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels due to lower industrial demand and the spread of renewable power.

A report released Thursday by environmental non-profit Environment Texas says the Lone Star state saw its CO2 output decline 2% between 2004 and 2007. According to official statistics, Texas produces more CO2 than any other state and even countries like Canada, but the report says the state posted the second-biggest drop in absolute emissions in the U.S. after New York over the period.

The report says that most of the drop is due to declining natural gas consumption in the industrial sector -- but a significant part of it is also due to lower emissions from the electrical sector. Texas saw its power generation emissions drop by 4% between 2004 and 2007 as providers switched from coal to natural gas-fired plants and wind farms.

While the reductions are far from quelling worries about global warming, the findings underscore the state's paradoxical role in the world's energy landscape. Texas is the heart of America's petroleum industry, and its conservative political leadership is waging war against the Obama administration's plan to put a cap on carbon emissions that could crimp oil and gas industry jobs. But windy prairies and a laissez-faire approach toward business have also given clean technology a hefty boost: in less than a decade, Texas has become by far the foremost wind producer in the U.S.

For Environment Texas spokesman Alejandro Savransky, the numbers are proof that wind farms can help stem global warming -- and their use should be increased. A cap in emissions, despite the widespread opposition it generates in the state, "is a necessity," he said.

The rapid explosion in wind capacity helped Texas get 2.5% of its power from renewables by 2007, up from 0.5% in 2004. Non-hydro renewables produced 6% of the state's electricity in the first quarter of 2009, the report said.

The expansion of wind-power generation, however, hit a wall earlier this year as the financial crisis dried up credit for large projects, and transmission lines to carry the electricity from windy West Texas to more populated parts of the state became clogged.

But some activity is beginning to pick up. In October, German utility E.ON AG (EOAN.XE) completed the largest windfarm in the world in Roscoe, Texas. Also in October, a joint venture between Chinese and U.S. companies announced plans to build a huge wind farm in West Texas. The venture's main firms include the private equity group U.S. Renewable Energy Group, Texas-based Cielo Wind Power LP, China's Shenyang power Group and A-Power Energy Generation Systems (APWR).