An anonymous reader sent a response to my posting about Rick Perry, John Wilder, and the Doctrine of Unforeseen Consequences, which I think warrants publication in the main portion of the blog:
Perry’s e.o [executive order–PB] applies to all permit applications, not just TXU. Saying it was for TXU is a loaded statement creating the implication his order was about a specific supporter — whether you intended that or not — when in fact it applies to all seeking power, including the other companies whose applications, when taken as a whole, would add 10,000 MW to the grid — thus essentially satisfying the capacity issue Perry raised when he announced support for the coal plants.This meets our power needs for the next decade, and does so in an even more environmentally sensitive way. So I don’t see how this means Perry is on the wrong end of this deal.
Thanks to the correspondent for this clarification. I had looked at the executive order a couple of weeks ago (all of the governor’s executive orders are posted on his Web site), but I was writing about the governor’s power to legislate with executive orders then, not about the coal plants, and didn’t absorb the specifics of this particular order. I did realize that TXU’s plants were not the only ones in the pipeline. As for the governor being on the “wrong” end of the deal, the reason that I published his press statement verbatim was to make clear that I didn’t write the item to criticize Perry but rather to muse on the unintended consequences of getting less electricity than he wanted and suffering a defeat at the hands of the environmentalists. The governor did exactly what he should have done, which was proclaim victory.
