Cornyn, TPPF Unveil Study on Green New Deal’s Impact on Texas

The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) and I today announced the results of a study on the Green New Deal’s impact on Texas.  The study, called “The Cost of the Green New Deal to Texas”, was conducted by Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Life:Powered and found that under the Green New Deal, the annual electricity cost for the average Texas household would rise to $13,846. 

When someone proposes an idea like the Green New Deal that will reorder the world, it’s important to ask the right questions, like is it feasible? How much would it cost? What would it do to the jobs of the men and women who work at places like this? What we’ve learned here at Sunbelt Steel is it would put them out of business, and for what? There are a lot better ways for us to deal with our concerns about the environment: through innovation, entrepreneurs, smart people coming up with smart solutions to problems.  To me, those sorts of innovative solutions make a lot more sense for the environment than new taxes, more government regulation, more control over our lives.  But I think the gentlemen we met who work at Sunbelt Steel and the families they represent are the ones that bring this story home to me the most.

“Our research estimates the Green New Deal will increase the cost of electricity by more than 900% and kill over a million jobs,” said Jason Isaac of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Life:Powered project. “Texas’ families, businesses, and economy can’t afford it — and it won’t even affect the climate. The Green New Deal is neither green, nor new, nor a deal for the Lone Star State.”

To ensure a reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound energy supply, I have introduced the Launching Energy Advancement and Development through Innovations for Natural Gas (LEADING) Act to establish a program for the research and development of carbon capture technology for natural gas. Earlier this summer, it passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.