While Texas balks, Louisiana pursues clean energy projects

Gov. John Bel Edwards (Bill Feig/The Advocate via The Associated Press, Pool)

Speaking to a room full of carbon storage developers in Houston earlier this month, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards couldn’t help but compare the climate politics in his state to neighboring Texas, reports the Houston Chronicle.

While the Texas Legislature is considering bills designed to reduce the state’s reliance on wind and solar power, Edwards happily described his work with Louisiana Republicans to turn that state into a hub for clean energy along the Gulf Coast.

Climate change and clean energy have long been touchy subjects in Texas, where the state’s status as a wind and solar powerhouse — it has more wind turbines and solar panels than any state in the country — must coexist with a century-old oil and gas industry that generates hundreds of billions of dollars a year in corporate revenue. Read more.