How new plans to tackle climate change will impact Texas
The federal government is in the middle of rolling out new plans to tackle climate change.
This week, FOX 4’s Blake Hanson spoke with the White House's National Climate Advisor, Gina McCarthy, about how those changes will impact Texas.
As brutal heat sparks wildfires across the state and pushes Texas’ electric grid to its limits, the White House is in the midst of rolling out new climate actions after congressional action on the matter failed.
One of strategies is to expand wind production off-shore in the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s still unclear how much Texas will benefit, with the ERCOT-run grid mostly cutoff from the rest of the country.
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[REPORTER: "Given the nature of our grid and its isolation, does the White House plan for Texans to be able to benefit from some of that expansion in the Gulf of Mexico?"]
"Oh, absolutely. I mean, we are talking about offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. We are looking at opportunities not just in Texas, but in Louisiana, with this 700,000 acres, with that are now going to be eligible for leasing. We're seeing a lot of private sector interest in actually the development of offshore wind. We're seeing it big time in the Atlantic. We're also seeing it outside the Pacific. And so there's real opportunity to grow the kind of clean energy that will add value into the Texas system," McCarthy responded.
While Texas has plenty of wind generation out west, offshore wind would offer another advantage.
"Now, one of the good things about offshore wind is it's not an intermittent energy source. It is actually running all the time, because when you're out in the open ocean, you have wind blowing all the time," McCarthy said. "So renewable energy, and in some cases matched with battery storage, is going to provide the kind of security that we're all looking for in our energy system and add real value to homeowners by lowering the cost of electricity."
Some of these changes will take years to play out.
In the meantime, many Americans are already struggling in the extreme heat, and we’ve already seen high demand at events geared at giving out supplies, which McCarthy said President Joe Biden is tackling too.
"He also talked about resources that are going on the table, more than $2 billion from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to help people adjust as these temperatures rise. We're talking about more access to air conditioners, more access to cooling centers. We're talking about opportunities under Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services to actually allow people more access to cooling systems. We have to keep one another safe while we're building a grid system that won't contribute to our changing climate," she added.