Although a native Texan, I am not conceited about it. (Mr. Bush's claims of Texanhood have sullied that source of pride).  However, I must beg Ms. Galbraith to step lightly on my state's late but genuine efforts to clean up our energy act.  While environmental concern is and has been de rigeur in Cali, promoting conservation and stewardship is an uphill battle here, and we really like to encourage ANY attempts our legislators, oil barons, big ranchers, etc. are making at clean(er) energy.  On second thought, maybe couching wind energy in terms of a competition is just what will appeal to the "Friday Night Lights" Texas mindset.

Not only is Texas now ahead of California in wind capacity but with new, forward-thinking, transmission policies it's now capable of pulling far ahead of the pack. Given the surging demand for energy there, solar and other renewables also need to rise to the challenge because coal and nuclear are grabbing for market share. If the marketplace decides, this will be a fascintating race to watch. -- Jim Pierobon in Maryland (former Chief Energy Writer for the Houston Chronicle and currently communications director for the American Council On Renewable Energy)

are dirty words here in San Diego, where we're fighting the Sunrise Powerlink, a massive powerline proposed to run through miles of wilderness, rural landscapes, and one of the country's largest state parks. The power companies are always screaming about the dire consequences of not having enough transmission capacity, but these purported capacity needs are regularly shown to be overblown. Now, SDG&E, the company proposing to build this power line, is claiming that this transmission bottleneck is keeping it from pursuing green energy alternatives. At the same time, it publishes lies about the costs and benefits of rooftop solar to discourage people from going that route, and its net metering program also discourages residents and businesses from installing the largest photo-voltaic systems possible.

Meanwhile, how many grocery stores in California still don't carry CFLs? (The Vons within walking distance of our house doesn't, and a proposed ban on incandescents just died in our state legislature.) How many houses in California are like ours was when we bought it, with a massive air conditioner and little insulation? (On a 75-degree day, the ceilings actually became hot to the touch!) Is electricity from a wind farm that's transported for miles (with around a 7% energy loss) and then used in this wasteful manner still "green"? Does it make sense to cover pristine habitat with industrial-scale "green power" plants (I'm not necessarily talking about windfarms here, but 7,000-acre solar fields), when we already have acres and acres of rooftops and parking lots that have yet to see a solar panel?

Research on the human genome started going much faster once there was competition between the publicly funded research group and a private one. Competition makes the competitors less complacent than they would be if they were just working on their own. This article talks about where California is environmentally in relation to other states. Suppose an organization like Greenpeace or the Sierra Club gave out some kind of award or recognition to the greenest state. Couldn't this enervate the states to compete with each other over the "green title?"

with a land mass that is a fraction of either Texas or California, I must mention my beloved number three: Iowa.  we are committed to alternative energy in various forms, but we love wind.  three turbine plants with the help of an incredible D line-up in Gov, Sen and Cong.  awesome.  we also support various alternative fuel sources and have a cycling community with access to thousands of miles of public trails.  I commute 10 miles one-way from the suburbs and have virtually no street time.  biomass, wind, organic farming, and on and on...  and our cost of living is incredibly low with an outrageously high quality of life.  okay, now I sound like a commercial.  peace and green love.  keep it natural!