Rick Perry's Nuanced History With Green Energy and America's Place in the Alt Energy World

Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has announced $105.5 million in funding for solar power. The DOE outlay will support 70 projects to advance solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) technologies.

“Investing in all of our abundant energy sources, including solar technologies, will help to drive down costs and ensure that the nation leads the world in energy production and innovation,” said Perry.

Two things – first off, that Rick Perry? Yep, if you associate the former Texas Governor with some caricature of a greedy oil tycoon who kills green energy bills with his six-shooter, you’re not alone, but Perry actually has a very nuanced history with wind and solar.

Under Perry’s leadership, Texas became the nation’s largest producer of wind energy – and according to Perry, “more energy from wind turbines than all but five countries” – and while solar energy didn’t fare nearly as well in the Lone Star State, Perry’s energy legacy is a lot more complicated than political stereotypes.

That said, the inability of Texas to capitalize on its abundant solar energy potential was perhaps telling. The US leads the world in wind energy production, but it lags far behind in solar. In terms of raw solar power production, the US ranks 5^th, behind Germany, China, Japan, and Italy. China demolishes the rest of the world, including the US, in solar power capacity, and going by solar power per capita, the US comes in at a paltry 17^th.

So yes, theoretically, this DOE pledge is a step in the right direction, but Secretary Perry’s mammoth expectations should be kept in check. And I’m actually in favor of a balanced energy approach – we ignore domestic oil reserves at our peril. But we won’t be leading the world in energy production anytime soon. How about just cracking the top 10 in solar power by capita?