The global energy market plays a significant role in determining the prices of oil and gas. This means that the profits of those who produce these resources are not solely based on where regions like Texas get their electricity, but rather more on global events such as Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine. It is, therefore, not a matter of greed that renewables have not been embraced in Texas, but rather a reflection of how the culture wars have engulfed the renewable energy industry. This is similar to the situation with Ron DeSantis and the Disney company, which seemingly goes against rational policy by undermining Florida’s tourism industry. Such actions are driven more by politics and culture than by logic or foresight.
There has been a growing trend amongst right-wing individuals such as Elon Musk and Ron DeSantis to blame “woke culture” for the supposed liberalization of major corporations. While this is an oversimplification and lacks credibility, there does seem to exist a counter-movement known as the “anti-woke mind virus”, which spreads across issues rather than people. This faction of Americans, which mostly dominates the Republican Party, harbors animosity towards anything they consider “woke,” meaning any acknowledgement of social injustice or any suggestion that society should make sacrifices for the common good.
This anti-woke mind virus affects attitudes on issues that have no connection with wokeness but which are considered wokish adjacent. A classic example is the hostility towards wearing masks to protect others that turned into a highly partisan opposition to COVID-19 vaccination, which is mainly about protecting oneself. This transition makes no logical sense, but it happened anyway, driven by the faction’s general animosity towards anything that appears or remotely appears to be a sacrifice or inconvenience for the sake of the public good, even if it has nothing to do with wokeism.
