As the elections of 2020 fast approach, the growing issue of climate change could mean big changes across the state of Texas.

Over the last century, the Republican Party has cemented its hold on the state by working hand-in-hand with oil producers who have stood out as leaders of one of the state’s biggest industries.

But changing demographics and an emerging Latino population that seems much more interested in lasting answers to questions about climate change could soon spell change.

In an election cycle where the White House and state congressional seats are both up for grabs, the state is also poised to elect an entire House of Representatives and more than half the state Senate. In addition, a seat at the state Railroad Commission, the agency that regulates the oil, gas and pipeline industries in the state, is also in play.

"We will see the consequences of this election for the next 10 years," Carisa Lopez, political director at the Texas Freedom Network, a nonprofit group that's trying to recruit young, progressive voters, told E&E News. 

One of the first orders of business of the new state Legislature will be the redrawing of voting districts that will be in place for the next decade, potentially impacting the state that is now home to the most oil and gas production in the country.

On the national level, the still rapidly growing state is expected to add at least congressional state after this year’s census, more than any other state and assuring that the new maps could have even greater impact.

In 2019, a Pew Research Center study found that younger voters across the country are more likely to believe that humans triggered climate change. Some attribute that mindset to Democrat Beto O'Rourke coming within 3 points of ousting longtime U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in 2018.

Still, in the end, Democrats picked up nine seats in the state House of Representatives and two state Senate seats that year.