AUSTIN (AP) – The state’s top political leaders on Wednesday described their vision for a Texas where wind turbines work alongside gas wells to create clean and sustainable power for the state and the nation.Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst opened the 54th annual
Texas Railroad Commission’s State of the Industry meeting with praise for what they called the backbone of the state’s economy. They also called on industry leaders to explore new energy sources.
”Through our focus on the development of clean energy, diversification of energy supplies and a greater emphasis on energy conservation, we can lower prices for consumers, we can create thousands of new jobs and we can make Texas and America less dependent on that foreign supply of oil,” Perry said.
Energy producers, distributors and government regulators met Wednesday amid a strong energy market buoyed by the worldwide stabilization of natural gas and crude oil prices and increasing demand for energy.
”Overall, the energy industry is very bright for Texas,” said Ron Kitchens, executive director of the commission. ”There’s also a lot of interest in new sources of energy, such as LNG (liquefied natural gas), wind power and fuel cells.”