Imagine this- if Texas were a country it would be the 8th biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world, and it doesn't show signs of slowing down.
Recent Wildfires
Texas is currently facing its largest wildfire in state history, spanning over 1.1 million acres up in the panhandle. Locals have named it the Smokehouse Creek Fire, and its so big that you can even see it from space. Although the source of the wildfire is still being investigated, its scale can be attributed to the same unforgiving climate conditions we normally see in California - low humidity, dry trees and grass, and high winds. The Texas panhandle is also home to around 85% of the state's cattle population, which unfortunately means tens of thousands of cows are suspected to have died in the disaster… Honestly I can't even make a "Texas does love smoked meats" joke, without feeling sick.
Texas vs Climate
The Smokehouse Creek Fire is not entirely abnormal though, because Texas has faced some extreme and record setting natural disasters and weather events in the last couple years. You may recall this past summer saw heat waves pounding on cities like Dallas-Fort Worth, which saw almost 50 days in temperatures above 100 degrees. And heat isnt the only culprit, sea level rise, hurricanes, and now wildfires, have made the state one of the most threatened in the US when it comes to the impacts of climate change.
Ideally seeing these climate impacts up-close would ignite (sorry) collective climate action amongst state representatives and residents, or at least make climate change an easy truth, but that's not exactly the case. Representatives such as Gov. Abbott and legislature continue to do everything in their power to slow renewable energy generation and continue to promote fossil fuels. To make matters worse, many of Texas's leading politicians have denied the overwhelming science that humans - and burning fossil fuels- is to blame for climate change. Here's a few examples from the beloved people in power:
Senator Ted Cruz in a 2015 Senate hearing on Climate Change stated that "that the planet is greener right now than in the past" due to increased levels of CO2.
Gov. Greg Abbott in 2023 vowed to "…exclude renewables from any revived economic incentive program" and introduced 5 bills that would lower support for wind and solar projects and, worse, force renewable energy to subsidize fossil fuel expansion.
As if those statements weren't disappointing enough, the same leaders seem to believe that voters around the country are eager to help pay for climate change adaptation projects in a state whose leaders are doing their best to make the problem worse. What's ironic is that Texas also produces the most renewable energy out of any other state too. However important renewables generation is though, they're still the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the US as well, and by a landslide (twice the amount produced by California). It's like being a major contributor to a catastrophe for your own people, and then supplying them high-priced energy just to survive the catastrophe. Talk about southern hospitality.
What does this mean for Texans and our Political/Climate Future?
I'm eager to see if the recent influx of residents coming for the lack of income tax and lower living costs will be the same ones fleeing due to climate-related costs in the form of increased insurance premiums and energy costs for cooling homes. Being serious now though, I think this story highlights the need for dissociation when it comes to climate and politics. Climate change can no longer stand to be treated as an issue determined solely by its short-term financial upside, nor only acknowledged as a hot topic to divide parties. In fact, playing the political game with climate will very quickly turn it into a global human rights issue, sparing no-one, especially the cows.
