Calls on Texas Governor to resign for blaming power outages on wind and solar power

While millions of Texans have been desperately struggling to warm up amid power outages due to the devastating winter storm that swept the country, the state’s Republican governor blamed solar and wind for the disappearance late Tuesday – despite the fact that Texas relying overwhelmingly on fossil fuels – and claims that a crisis shows that the Green New Deal would be a “deadly deal” for the United States.

“Texas is blessed with multiple sources of energy, such as natural gas and oil and nuclear power, as well as solar and wind,” Gov. Greg Abbott said on Tuesday night on “Hannity.” “Our wind and solar power shut down, and together they were more than 10% of our power grid. And that put Texas in a situation where the country did not have power.”

Abbott was far from the first Republican to deploy such blatantly false talk points in response to the ongoing crisis in Texas, which left at least ten people dead. But the governor’s decision to appear Fox News and attacking a policy that was not even carried out as Texans used their possessions to keep their children warm is considered another example of its failed leadership.

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“Five million Texans are without power tonight and the temperature is below freezing. People will definitely die tonight because of it,” said Sawyer Hackett, senior adviser to Julián Castro. “But Governor Abbott had time to take on Sean Hannity to blame the Green New Deal.”

Referring to an official at the State Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT), The Texas Tribune reported that from Tuesday afternoon ’16 gigawatts renewable energy generation, mostly wind generation, was offline. Almost twice as much, 30 gigawatts, has been lost due to thermal sources, which include gas, coal and nuclear energy. ‘

“Texas is a gas state,” said Michael Webber, a professor of energy resources at the University of Texas. Tribune. “Gas is currently failing in the most spectacular way.”

But it has Texas Republicans like Abbott and Rep. Dan Crenshaw of the attempt to blame frozen wind turbines for interruptions that could last for days, endangering lives and coronavirus vaccines.

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

“Greg Abbott does not 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 Tuesday afternoon, writing that “Governor Abbott could not prepare for this storm, was too slow to react, and now blames everyone but himself for this mess.”

“He has neglected the state’s outdated and deregulated electrical network,” Castro said. “Now 4.4 million Texans have no power in freezing conditions.”

In a maintenance on ABC 13 Earlier Tuesday in Houston, Abbott said officials from ERCOT – the agency that oversees Texas’ power grid – should resign over their failure to be sufficiently transparent with Texas residents during the storm and its aftermath.

But Abhi Rahman, communications director of the Texas Democrats, said Abbott is the one to step aside.

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

Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said in a statement earlier this week that when the temperature dropped and millions lost power, Abbott’s inability to govern was not only negligent but also incredibly dangerous.

“People are freezing. Families can’t open their refrigerators, heat their food or grab supplies,” Hinojosa said. “Like the coronavirus crisis, Abbott’s negligence once again endangered lives. Abbott owes an explanation to the people of Texas. And Texans deserve better than failed leaders who could not lead their way out of a shoebox.”

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