Don Brunell

There’s an old saying that oil and water don’t mix. That may be true, but apparently they coexist quite well.

Traveling through Sweetwater in west Texas, you see an interesting mix of irrigated farming, cattle ranching, oil production and wind energy.

Farmers draw water from wells to irrigate fields and provide drinking water for people and livestock. Scattered across those same fields are traditional oil wells that have been pumping crude since 1921.

Less than 10 miles from Sweetwater is the Roscoe Wind Farm — 627 wind turbines standing in irrigated cotton and hay fields, wheat fields, and ca...