ABSTRACT
This chapter describes geographical aspects of benefits, infrastructures, and politics related to the parallel developments in Texas. It identifies the origins of the developments in renewable and hydrocarbons, and then offers comparisons in the form of three questions that help further energy geographies: what is the distribution of benefits? What new infrastructures are required? What new types of politics have emerged? The chapter aims to make specific reference to wind power near Sweetwater, shale gas development in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, and shale oil and condensate production from the Eagle Ford shale region. The case of Texas shows how the transition to renewable energy may be overwhelmed by continued and enormous investments in oil and gas, and how a single geopolitical entity may host contradictory energy developments. Energy geographies illuminate the question of who benefits from energy development—not in terms of industries and consumers, but in terms of the actual owners of the land or subsurface used to generate energy.
