Climate hawks pursuing a “Green New Deal” based on wind and solar power face a significant obstacle: building more interstate transmission lines.

To succeed in marshaling an overhaul of the nation’s power lines, Democrats would have to go further down the path forged by Houston-based entrepreneur Michael Skelly. According to Wall Street Journal reporter Russell Gold, Skelly was “tantalizingly” close to building what would have been an “electricity expressway” delivering renewable energy across the country.