TEXAS — Gov. Greg Abbott, champion of the oil and gas industry in Texas, turned a few heads Monday in front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce when he began touting the importance of renewable energy. Yes, the same Greg Abbott who blamed renewables for the failure of the grid during the winter storm of last year.

Said Abbott: “We’ve got to be very clear that all forms of energy are essential.”

He called Texas an international leader in wind energy and predicted the state will lead the nation in solar generation by the end of the year. Even Abbott is aware of the fact that the world is slowly moving away from fossil fuels. In fact, on Tuesday of this week, renewable energy generation on the grid in Texas outperformed traditional fossil fuels.

Doug Lewin, president of Stoic Energy, told Spectrum News 1 he’s not surprised that renewables, on a growing number of days, is out-pacing fossil fuels.