Conservative states with a hands-off approach to development, such as Texas and Oklahoma, have become wind and solar energy dynamos in recent years. But a simultaneous push by Republicans in Washington and in Sun Belt state capitals to cut off tax incentives and tighten permitting regulations threatens to snuff out the red-state renewable energy boom.
The one-two punch underscores the Republicans’ move away from embracing an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy to a one-sided effort to return to fossil fuels. Its success would unwind four years of Democratic efforts to address climate change and advance a clean-energy economy.
The shift has been particularly jarring in Texas, the nation’s top wind power producer, which is second only to California in solar energy and industrial battery storage. Renewable energy companies have announced plans for $64 billion in new investments in Texas, mostly for solar and battery storage…
