The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced a proposed plan to require states to reduce their individual rates of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. The progress that the state of Texas has already made in development and collection of wind power, as well as the plans to continue to cultivate wind energy, mean that Texas is on track to meet the EPA’s requirements.

Texas is already creating and using more wind power than any other state, and has plans in place to increase its wind capacity by 70 percent in the next two years. However, Texas is also by far the nation’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide for power.

Plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Texas are not reliant on wind power only. Experts expect to see significant reduction made by use of natural gas and solar power as well.  According to Nathan Daniel, an analyst with TexasElectricity.org, natural gas is the single largest source of electricity in Texas.  It has displaced mostly coal as an energy source thanks to cheap prices for natural gas in recent years.  Coal will likely continue to lose ground in Texas as cleaner energy sources like wind and natural gas help slow growth in the state’s CO2 emissions.