Horns Up: Wind energy project almost complete.

As the Texas Tribune reported on Monday, Texas’ Competitive Renewable Energy Zone, which seeks to connect the nation’s largest expanse of wind farms in West Texas to the state’s major cities, will open for business in a few weeks. At 18,500 megawatts, it dwarfs the wind energy production of any other state by at least a three to one margin. In a state traditionally dominated by the pollution-heavy, non-renewable oil industry, we’re proud to also call ourselves the nation’s leader in a sustainable energy source.

Horns Down: Cruz is rolling in it.

While doing more than anybody else to cause the recently ended government shutdown, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has raised over $1 million in the past month — raising his funding level for 2013 to $2.67 million despite the fact that he doesn’t officially face a reelection until 2018. His name recognition has skyrocketed, and it’s disheartening to hear how much he’s profited off his reckless and dangerous demagoguery. But we hope — and expect — that he’s also engendered enough enmity to compensate. Cruz also made news Tuesday for being conspicuously absent from an emergency meeting of Republican Senators on how to achieve a workable fix to the crisis. A Cruz spokeswoman said he had a “previous commitment.” We find it hard to imagine what could take precedence over cleaning up the gargantuan mess he largely caused.

Horns Down: Fast food not nearly enough.

A University of California and University of Illinois report released Tuesday found that 52 percent of the families of fast-food workers in America have to use public assistance programs to get by. In Texas, that number was 59 percent. This is yet another piece of evidence that the minimum wage is inadequate to support a family and must be raised for families to have anything like a real chance at the American Dream.