AUSTIN — Texas has become ground zero in a GOP battle over energy, pitting a suburban populist right that seeks to throttle the state's renewables program against the mainline Republican business establishment.

A similar red-on-red fight is taking place at the federal level, where Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R) has emerged as a leading voice calling for the full repeal of renewable energy tax credits established in 2022 under President Biden — setting himself against a group of Republican defenders of the subsidies.

But the conflict has roots in Texas, where it reflects a more fundamental struggle over the core principles of the state GOP and the legacy of establishment Republicans such as former President and Gov. George W. Bush — an unlikely godfather of the Texas and U.S. renewables programs.

'Another attack on renewables'

The divisions are front and center in Austin as the legislative session reaches its last frenetic weeks, with largely rural GOP lawmakers pitted against those from the suburbs and exurbs.

Bills targeting wind and solar are “another attack on renewables that have responded to the market, that have met the needs of Texans and provided a lower cost utility rates,” state Rep. Drew Darby (R) told The Hill.

"Are they perfect? No. But do they have a place in the energy mix? Yes — and these bills are nothing more than an attack on their business model,” he said.

Darby, who has emerged as a key GOP proponent of renewable energy, is hardly anti-carbon: One of his bills this session would shield oil and gas companies from liability for dumping treated fracking fluid in creeks and rivers.

But his West Texas district

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