Climate Policy News
CLIMATE PROJECT / LESSON 4.3CLOSERCLIMATE POLICY NEWSUnless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “Closer: Climate Policy News”, OER Project, www.oerproject.com/PurposeRevisit a headline you saw earlier in the lesson to investigate the different levels of government involvement in decarbonization policy for one important issue.Process1.Review one of the headlines from the opening activity in this lesson. Underline the different levels of government you identify in the headline. 2.Read the excerpt from the article below. Texas Lawmaker Seeks to Improve Texas’ Power Capacity by Joining Regional Grid and Agreeing to Federal OversightAdapted from an article by Keaton Peters, March 22, 2024Inside Climate News, https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22032024/texas-bill-power-capacity-regional-grid-federal-oversight/Electrical grids are vulnerable to climate change, which amplifies intense heat and drought in the summer and intensifies storms in the winter. Nowhere is the problem more pronounced than in Texas, as recent history has shown.Texas has the added challenge of running its own power grid that doesn’t cross state lines and connect extensively to neighboring regional grids—by design, thus enabling the state to evade regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.So it’s been hard for Texas in times of extreme heat or intense storms to come up with the power it needs at times of peak demand when, in the age of climate change, having adequate, reliable power can prevent people from freezing or sweltering to death intheir homes.Now, freshman U.S. Rep. Greg Casarhas introduced legislation that would establish power connections across state borders that he said would prevent climate-related blackouts as well as aid the transition to clean energy and cut electricity bills.He also wants $11 billion from a federal Department of Energy program to support companies that take on the slow, expensive task of building the interregional transmission lines.Texas, a petroleum rich state, leads the nation in renewable energy, with new wind and solar power construction playing a critical role in meeting energy demand.Adding electrical transmission lines would help Texas’ record-setting solar and wind energy sectors. Energy from those sources hasgone to wastebecause the grid is congested. Thereare not enough transmission lines from rural areas with numerous wind and solar installations to population centers where the energy is needed.
CLIMATE PROJECT / LESSON 4.3CLOSERCLOSER: CLIMATE POLICY NEWS3.Whydo you think Texas chose to keep its power grid separate from neighboring states and federal regulation?4.Why might regional and federal collaboration for infrastructure like transmission lines be important as climate change intensifies?5.How do you think the different goals of local, state, and federal government shape climate policy, especially for energy systems like Texas’s power grid?