The Lone Star State of Texas is a rather unique place in all of America.

They are the second-largest state in terms of geography with a total area of 268,596 square miles.

They are second in population according to the U.S. Census Bureau with 29,145,505 people and, according to Gov. Greg Abbott, they will be the largest in a decade.

Everything is bigger in Texas–including population growth.

If current trends continue in intra-state moves and natural birth rates, Texas will be America's most populous state in about a decade.

Americans are voting with their feet & Texas is winning.https://t.co/oa1kPAcbQb

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 28, 2021

Plus they have some fabulous BBQ, produced one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history with the legend that is Nolan Ryan, and have some of the nicest people you will ever meet on the big blue marble we call Earth. Texans love their state and I know more people will find out why as they move there in the coming years.

So why all the Texas love while I sit here freezing my tush off in the winter wonderland that is Michigan?

Energy my people, energy. Keeping our bodies warm during the long winter months up north requires some natural gas and fossil fuels. Preferably produced here so we don’t need to wait for those ships on the coasts to be unloaded.

Yesterday, the President of the United States met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and one of the subjects that came up in their discussion was the Russian pipeline Nord Stream 2 being built to deliver energy to Germany. One of the first things the Biden administration did was to remove the Trump era sanctions in regards to that pipeline. Now that is being used as a negotiating chip to coax the Russians to not invade Ukraine.

As my colleague, Bonchie points out, it is probably too little, too late.

From his article…

Let’s recall that the White House’s initial excuse for lifting sanctions on the pipeline and its parent company was that it was essentially complete. How true that line was is open for interpretation, but Biden and his handlers insisted that the prior progression of Nord Stream 2 made continued opposition ineffective and nonsensical.

Yet, here we are almost a year later, and now Biden wants to pretend like he’s got a killswitch ready and waiting? He doesn’t, and it’s obvious he doesn’t, otherwise we wouldn’t be where we are right now. If any actual leverage existed over Nord stream 2 at this point, it would have been exercised before the first 50,000 men made it to Ukraine’s border.

After reading the article above about the current mess in Russia and Ukraine and how it is tangling up our relationship with our allies, I came across this tweet with an interesting video.

Texans know oil and gas jobs are the key to our robust economy, but progressive policies from Nancy Pelosi, AOC, and the #GreenNewDeal will destroy our energy industry and destroy jobs.

Watch our new ad: https://t.co/RsCRuWZewH #energynews #txenergy pic.twitter.com/99v8inE2Pj

— Carbon Neutral Coalition (@CarbonNeutral_) February 8, 2022

This video doesn’t have to sell me on the fact that Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, and AOC are out of step with reality, political or otherwise.  I already know they are dead wrong in trying to stop this country and states like Texas from making us energy independent once again.  As the story about our allies in Germany depending on a hostile nation like Russia for its energy needs shows, this should be a wake-up call for people to pay attention to the state of the world as it is, not as they wish it were.

Don’t believe me?

Here is Speaker Pelosi (who gets to fly home on an Air Force plane powered by fossil fuels whenever she pleases) talking with members who were at the hot air climate conference in Glasgow last year. Here is just a portion of her commenting about getting rid of the fuels which our military uses to protect us.

From her office…

Now, recognizing what you said, we recognize that as well – and a big user of, of fuel. There have been many initiatives over time, more successful with more technology, to convert from fossil fuel to other sources of fuel to run the military, because it would make the biggest difference. Transportation, defense – these are two of the biggest – can make the biggest difference in all of that. And that is something we’re very, very focused on. As I say, the Defense Department sees this systemically, that we have to stop it as a national security issue. And one way to do that is to stop our dependence on fossil fuels, which exacerbates the climate crisis.

I’m sure the Chinese and Russians are not laughing at us.

Not one ever to be outdone, Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez put on her librarian glasses and tweeted this back in October of last year about investing in public pensions with reliable returns from oil and gas.

Actually good, major climate news: today New York City is announcing its public pensions are fully divesting out of the fossil fuel industry and into renewables & climate – a massive shift of about $50 billion. 🌎

This move is led by NYC workers. Here’s why this is a big deal.⤵️ https://t.co/JldJ6WTIJ7

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 21, 2021

I know that AOC and her crew of cartoon crusaders who think fossil fuels are super icky and really really bad will never let facts get in the way of a doomsday scenario. Yet, being the rational and fantastic purveyor of truth, justice, and the American way that I was born to be, I’m duty-bound to let you know that there is another side that is not doomsday at all.

The oil and gas industry created 11.3 million jobs nationally and 2.5 million in Texas back in 2019, just two years into Trumps’ term according to The Center Square. That led to the United States leading the globe in oil and natural gas production with the Lone Star State leading all other states in production.

So, Texas was leading the world in a way and doing it in style.

Also, according to the Texas Oli & Gas Association, lots of good things are funded by the fuel that we have right now.

In FY 2020, the Texas oil and natural gas industry paid $13.9 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties, funds that directly support Texas schools, teachers, roads, infrastructure, and essential services. This is the equivalent of $38 million each day. The total from 2007 – 2020 is over $162 billion.

Oil and natural gas tax and royalty revenue is used to support education, transportation, healthcare, and infrastructure through the Economic Stabilization Fund (commonly known as the Rainy Day Fund), the Permanent School Fund (PSF) and the Permanent University Fund (PUF) – all of which are funded almost exclusively with taxes and state royalties paid by the oil and natural gas industry.

Education, healthcare, and infrastructure, oh my.

Now, I know that this might seem a bit harsh to the Congressperson from New York. However, if she had taken the time to maybe read up a bit more on this subject while on her vacation to the free state of Florida, where masks are not required like in her home state, she would be more informed on this subject —  WATCH: AOC Partying It up Maskless at Crowded Drag Brunch in Miami. If only coloring books could be done in podcast form she would own this topic.

Donald Trump, for his four years in office, had a singular focus to make America energy independent again and we were for a brief time. When we are developing more efficient and cleaner ways to harness and use fossil fuels we already have, that helps continue to provide good-paying jobs and provide steady tax revenue for Pelosi and the crew to spend on junkets to places like Glasgow.

That the Biden administration has in under a year destroyed all the hard work that was done to make this country free from foreign manipulation of energy is sickening. When folks like Nancy Pelosi, AOC, and Bobby Francis O’Rourke (a.k.a. Beto)  are for these horrible policy reversals done since January 2021, that reveals just how short-sighted they are. They want Americans to pay for higher prices at the gas pump, higher prices at the grocery store, and everywhere in between. All the while flying and sometimes partying on your dime while criticizing the fossil fuel industry that got them there and pretending they are the VIPs they really think they were born to be.

Arent they a ton of fun?

Texans have led the country in this critical area of energy before and are ready to do it again. America just needs national leaders to take the necessary steps like those that did just four years ago that put our national and security interests first. That means continuing to be a leader in the production of fuels we all use every day and not becoming dependent on hostile foreign players like Germany is quickly moving towards.

So as much fun as it is to watch Nancy and her crew of hapless Democrats sputter all over the place, I don’t think they should be in charge of anything more than a reality TV show. In fact, if you put  AOC and Beto on a show I might even pay to stream that hot mess for at least a week. Watching them fly or drive all over the country (using fossil fuels)  telling each other how pretty and smart they are would be a hoot and much better for the country as a whole.

Let’s make that happen, America!