The Texas legislature is about to give solar-power a big boost. On Tuesday, the state senate doled out $500 million to encourage the production of solar-power.

Texas has always been a leader in renewable energy. The state generates more wind power than any other. On the same day, the senate passed the solar-power bill, one of its committees advanced a separate bill requiring that about 3.8 percent of the state’s energy come from a renewable source other than wind.

That’s a remarkable commitment from a state commonly perceived as being dependent on its oil business. It’s also proof that Texas is far more dedicated to this traditionally liberal issue than its uber-conservative stereotype would suggest.

As a small government libertarian, I reflexively cringe when states start meddling with markets. But as far as government programs go, this seems to me the rare instance in which the potential benefits of interference may overcome the ills.

Climate change and the other environmental impacts of fossil fuels grow increasingly scary. Humanity’s tremendous technical innovation over the past few centuries has far outpaced its ability to come up with solutions to industrialism’s side effects. We have no way of projecting what the future of our planet has in store; what we do know is that if we don’t do something to curb greenhouse gasses, the result will be catastrophic.

Of course, the renewable energy technology we have today won’t come close to solving our problems. It’s too expensive to replace fossil fuels.

But that’s not a reason to spend less on alternative energies; it’s a call to do more. When Roosevelt said he’d build 50,000 planes to fight World War II, it seemed a call to the impossible. When Kennedy announced we’d go to the moon, he seemed a na’ve idealist. This country has shown time and again that with hearts willing to dream big and heads capable of making those dreams reality, we can accomplish anything.

Climate change is our generation’s space program. We owe it to the future to stem the tide of ozone depletion. We can’t ignore the disastrous effect we’re having on the environment. We can’t put this off any longer. It’s time to knuckle down and quite literally save the world.

The government can’t accomplish this on its own. The solution will have to come primarily from private companies. But the government can help make this possible by giving tax incentives and subsidies to firms that are finding ways of making alternative energy practical. It can also be alternative energy’s biggest and most reliable customer

This can’t be an open-ended commitment. Any government that spends money on alternative energy, either directly or indirectly through tax breaks and subsidies, must make sure that its funds aren’t being wasted. The last thing we need is to waste money and resources in the quicksand of inefficiency and bureaucracy.

Despite the potential for waste, we must work harder for alternative energy. The worst thing we can do is nothing. If we ignore this problem, it won’t go away; it will grow to catastrophic proportions. We have to tackle global warming head on. We have to make the world safe for our children. The Texas legislature has taken a stand. It’s up to others to follow its lead.

Nathaniel French is a sophomore theater studies and math double major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].