As the national leader in oil and natural gas production, Texas is leading the United States to energy independence. A February 2019 report states crude oil production reached 1.26 billion barrels in 2017, almost breaking the 1973 record, according to figures from the Railroad Commission of Texas. The record-breaking 2018 production occurred despite a 40% decline in oil prices during the fourth quarter.

What's happening in Texas is not an overnight success, though. It's more like 153 years of progress that began when the first oil well in Texas was drilled in 1866. That was soon followed by the first major discovery in 1894, and then by Spindletop in 1901, making the Lone Star State the new oil center of the United States. And here we are almost 120 years later with Texas' output last year exceeding 1.5 billion barrels.

Texans are living in a new Golden Age of cheap, reliable, plentiful energy. But as concerns about climate change drive some parts of the United States to craft energy policies that shift away from traditional forms of energy such as oil and gas, what role will renewables like wind and solar play? A roundtable forum was held in February with three of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld's top energy attorneys in Houston about the future of renewable energy.