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Please understand, I do not blame the farmer who is leasing his land for the solar panels near Abbott. If I were in his shoes, most likely I would do the same. He will still be making money from his land without all the work of plowing, sowing and harvesting his crops. Not to mention the expense of equipment to do the work.

What I do not understand is why a solar power company would choose to cover up some of the richest and most productive soil in Texas. That Blackland Prairie has been producing crops for decades and now all it will produce is a few megawatts of electricity. Why not choose some land about 400 miles west that has not and will not be the source for food and fiber for generations to come? At least the windmills in West Texas don’t take up so much room that the farmers on the Caprock can’t still grow their crops. Shoot, some of those farmers are triple-dipping with wind, oil and cotton.

Engie North America on Wednesday dedicated the Sun Valley Solar and Battery Storage Project, a $350 million energy complex unlike anything in the history of rural Hill County, population 36,500 people. 

The Waco Trib’s Friday opinion page column, “Poor voters losing out in the culture wars” by Bloomberg columnist Francis Wilkinson, was excellent. It explains what’s wrong with American politics today.

As Wilkinson points out, both of America’s political parties now represent elites. Republicans represent the economic elite on economic issues, and Democrats represent the cultural elite on cultural issues. Note: The economic and cultural elites are mostly the same people — mostly affluent, educated, urban and bi-coastal. Our two-party system now leaves the poor and working class behind. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are called leftists for representing the interests of ordinary Americans against the elite.

The most striking political division in America today is urban versus rural. It reflects America’s cultural divide. Eighty percent of Texans now live in just 31 counties. This 80 percent of Texans voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump 53 percent to 47 percent. The remaining 20 percent, the most rural 223 counties, voted for Trump over Biden 75 percent to 25 percent. This enabled Trump to win Texas by 6 percent.

Over the past half century, white working-class voters have left the Democratic Party in droves. This movement began as a southern backlash to the civil rights movement, but it has moved way beyond that today. The Roosevelt coalition that enabled Democrats to dominate the White House for half a century and Congress for two-thirds of a century is gone.

Here’s a good political rule of thumb: When people are voting based on economic issues, Democrats win; when people are voting based on cultural issues, Republicans win. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Jon Tester all understand that. Ron DeSantis also understands it. Hillary Clinton and Terry McAuliffe would have won in their elections if they had understood this better.

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