During your service as Governor, Texas has developed a much broader energy portfolio. 
I do think that we are wise as a people to not put our eggs all in one basket [and] to diversify our energy portfolio. I can promise you that the wind energy economic impact on the rural counties where that’s going is good for those counties. It’s good for those communities. I know. I come from out there.

Such diversification is quite a change from just a few years ago. 
In ’85, we were oil and gas, real estate, and banking. Now we are a very, very diverse state. Last year in 2008, 70 percent of the jobs created in America were created in Texas. And the vast majority of them are all private sector jobs. We are home to more Fortune 500 companies now than any other state. We are now the nation’s leading wind energy producer, and look at the Barnett Shale.

Here in Texas and over in Louisiana, we have a couple of the largest natural gas fields in the continental United States. We need to have a thoughtful discussion about how we develop that, use that, and develop it as a domestic source of energy.

It’s ours. We like America versus where some of our energy product comes from, whether it’s Venezuela or some of the Middle Eastern countries, that really don’t much give a tinker’s damn about America.

Do you think Americans recognize the opportunity that shales like the Barnett represent? 
Sometimes I think natural gas gets treated like your old, loyal friend, who you take for granted. And a new friend comes in from a new city or new style and they’re interesting, they’re new, they’re stylish. They’re all these different things that your other friend might be, but because you’re used to it, you’re around it all the time, and you disregard it to some degree. And I think that’s kind of what we’ve done in Texas to natural gas … to our detriment, I might add. But the key is the scope, and natural gas has this.

So in your opinion natural gas is much more than just an opportunity for consumers to lock in a low-cost, clean-burning, domestically produced fuel. 
It offers a way to impact the domestic automobile industry that’s on its back right now as well as a way to get America more independent on energy sources. We need to find ways to build out the infrastructure and starting with fleets might be the best route.

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED, CONDENSED, AND EDITED BY ERIC O’KEEFE