Former Chicago mayor and expected Democratic 2028 presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel is calling on Democrats to embrace a more diversified energy portfolio, similar to that of Texas, that includes both clean energy and fossil fuels.
Emanuel argued that the oil and gas state diversified its energy portfolio after Winter Storm Uri in 2021, which induced a more resilient transmission system and has kept utility rates low.
Emanuel’s positioning aligns with a shift in Democratic messaging away from climate change rhetoric toward greater focus on energy affordability and stability.
“Democrats need to do something that doesn’t come naturally: spread the gospel of Texas,” Emanuel wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Monday.
“While President Trump tries to undermine the clean-energy sector, wind and solar are supplying about 40% of Texas’ power,” he said. “It also leads the nation in battery storage. Ratepayers pay between 10% and 30% less for electricity than the national average. Earth to Democrats: We need to supersize this.”
Emanuel is also speculated to be a candidate for president in 2028. He served as an Illinois congressman from 2003 to 2009. Emanuel was former President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff and most recently, he served as the ambassador to Japan during the Biden administration.
In his op-ed, Emanuel outlined a three-part strategy that he believes lawmakers should embrace to meet growing energy demand and cost.
The strategy includes imposing a tax on hyperscalers, or companies that build massive data centers with large electricity requirements, to cover the cost of updating existing transmission lines.
He also argued for permitting reform to make it easier to add new generation storage and transmission infrastructure.
Emanuel said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should require utilities to approve the “cheapest, cleanest new infrastructure, and impose a 24-month shot clock for permitting approved projects so recalcitrant states and localities can’t stand in the way.”
Lastly, he said the United States should also be investing in new energy technologies, especially geothermal, next-generation battery technology, and small modular reactors.
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“We’re on the precipice of modernizing the most important piece of tomorrow’s economy in ways that will generate millions of jobs and support significant export opportunities,” he said. “To win in the 21st century, we don’t need to replicate China. We simply need to scale Texas.”