A web of steel rebar
forms the base of one
of 120 future turbines
at Sage Draw wind farm
in the Permian Basin.
Texas generates more
energy from wind than
any other state, helping
drive down the cost.
Wind power is so cheap
that ExxonMobil has
contracted to buy most
of this 338- megawatt
farm’s output—in order
to power more fracking
for oil and gas.A pump jack (left) bobs
in a cotton field near
Lubbock, Texas, at the
northern edge of the
Permian Basin. Fracking
of deep shales allowed
this region to pump
more than one-third of
U.S. crude in 2019. For
the month of Septem-
ber, when this photo
was taken, the U.S.
was a net oil exporter
for the first time since
monthly recordkeeping
began in 1973.she won’t miss it at all. “It’s always provided for
the outside rather than for ourselves,” she said.
The coal plant closure is part of a trend
that seems unstoppable. More than 500 U.S.
coal-fired plants have closed since 2010, and
dozens more closures are expected. U.S. coal
consumption in 2019 was the lowest it has been
in 40 years; in April, renewables generated more
electricity than coal for the first time. China and
India are still adding coal plants, but there are
hints of a shift there too. Many Chinese plants
now run only sporadically; India in 2018 added
more renewable energy than coal.
THE ROAD TO 2070 59