Calls on Texas governor to resign while blaming power cuts on wind and solar power

As millions of jeans struggled desperately to stay warm amid power outages following the devastating winter storm that ravaged the nation, the state’s Republican governor blamed the sun and wind for the blackouts on Tuesday afternoon. —Although Texas relies heavily on fossil fuels — and said the crisis shows the Green New Deal would be a “deadly deal” for the United States.

“Texas is blessed with multiple energy sources, such as natural gas and oil and nuclear, as well as solar and wind,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in an appearance on Hannity Tuesday night. “Our wind and solar went out and collectively accounted for more than 10% of our power grid. And that pushed Texas into a state where there was a lack of power across the state.”

Abbott was far from the first Republican to deploy blatantly false discussion points in response to the ongoing crisis in Texas, which has left at least ten people dead. But the governor’s decision to appear Fox News and attacking a policy that has not even been implemented as jeans resorted to burning their belongings to keep their children warm was seen as one more example of their failed leadership.

“Five million jeans are without electricity tonight and temperatures are below freezing. No doubt people will die tonight because of that.” dit Sawyer Hackett, senior advisor to Julian Castro. “But Governor Abbott had time to continue with Sean Hannity to blame the Green New Deal.”

Citing an official of the State Electrical Reliability Council (ERCOT), The Texas Tribune reported that on Tuesday afternoon “16 gigawatts of renewable energy generation, mostly wind generation, were offline. Almost twice as much, 30 gigawatts, of thermal sources, including gas, coal, had been lost. and nuclear energy “.

“Texas is a state of gas,” Michael Webber, a professor of energy at the University of Texas at Austin, told Tribune. “Gas is failing in the most spectacular way right now.”

But that hasn’t stopped Texas Republicans like Abbott and Rep. And Crenshaw of trying to blame frozen shutdown wind turbines that could continue for days, endangering lives and coronavirus vaccines.

In response to Abbott’s “Hannity” interview, Texas voting rights advocate Charlie Bonner he tweeted, “He ‘s lying. People are dying, and he’ s on fire Fox News lying to you. We live in fear and Greg Abbott plays politics with our lives. “

“Greg Abbott doesn’t care if you live or die tonight, so take care of each other, my friends,” Bonner added. “We live in a failed state.”

Castro sent a similar message on Tuesday afternoon, write that “Governor Abbott was not prepared for this storm, he was too slow to respond and now blames everyone except himself for this mess.”

“It neglected the outdated and deregulated power grid of the state,” Castro said. “Now, 4.4 million jeans have no energy in freezing conditions.”

In a interview turned on ABC 13 Tuesday earlier in Houston, Abbott said officials from ERCOT, the agency that oversees Texas ’power grid, should resign over its lack of sufficient transparency with the people of Texas during the storm and its aftermath.

But Abhi Rahman, communications director for Texas Democrats, dit Abbott is the one who should put it aside.

“Abbott is the leader of the state,” Rahman said. “He is informed of emergencies. He must be the one to resign.”

In a statement earlier this week when temperatures dropped and millions lost power, Texas Democratic Party President Gilberto Hinojosa said “Abbott’s inability to govern is not only negligent, but incredibly dangerous. “

“People are freezing. Families can’t open the fridge, heat food or go get supplies,” Hinojosa said. “Like the coronavirus crisis, Abbott’s negligence has once again put his life at risk. Abbott owes an explanation to the people of Texas. And Texans deserve better than failed leaders who couldn’t get out of a box of shoes”.

This article first appeared in Common Dreams. You can read it here.