Bill Gates said Saturday that some of the deaths from the harsh winter weather that hit Texas could have been prevented by weathering power plants.
In an interview on Saturday evening With CNN’s Anderson Cooper, the billionaire philanthropist argued that natural gas power plants in Texas were not built to withstand extreme weather, causing millions of people across the state to lose power and battle freezing temperatures.
As of Saturday, about 70 people have died in Texas and other states affected by the winter break, including victims of car accidents, carbon monoxide poisoning, drownings, home fires and hypothermia, according to The Associated Press
Abbott has been criticized for claiming that the outages occurred with renewables, even though there were officials at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas have said that problems with various sources, especially natural gas, contributed to the problem.
“Our wind and our solar power were turned off, and together they made up more than 10 percent of our power grid, and that put Texas in a statewide lack of power,” said Abbott said earlier this week during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity
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Gates a supporter of green energy, pushed back against the claim.
“This is not because of renewable dependence,” Gates told Cooper on Saturday. “These are largely natural gas-fired power stations that were not weathered. They could have been.”
“It costs money, and the trade-off has been made and it didn’t work out, and it is tragic that it has resulted in the deaths of people,” he added.
Gates went on to say that climate change could be considered the leading cause of extreme weather events, adding that greater reliance on renewable energy could prevent future disasters similar to the winter storm.
“It’s ironic to blame renewable energy sources and not realize that we will have to deal with this unless we get the whole world to cut emissions,” Gates said.
Critics have condemned Abbott and Texas general readiness for the winter storm, with five Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee write in a letter to the GOP governor on Friday.
“TThis week’s events show that there are significant shortcomings in preparations and that more needs to be done to protect communities disproportionately affected by winter blackouts, ”they wrote.
The letter was written in response to a report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation stating that power generating companies “have not prepared enough for the winter,” citing in particular inadequate insulation and operator training. and maintenance personnel. on winter preparations.