Calls on Texas governor to resign as he blames power outages on wind and solar

While millions of Texans struggled desperately to stay warm amid power outages from the devastating winter storm that engulfed the nation, the state’s Republican governor blamed sun and wind for the power outage Tuesday night – despite Texas for a large part relies on fossil fuels – and the crisis claimed shows that the Green New Deal would be a “deadly deal” for the United States.

“Texas is blessed with multiple energy sources, including natural gas and oil and nuclear power, as well as solar and wind,” said Governor Greg Abbott in a performance on “Hannity” Tuesday night. “Our wind and our solar power were shut down, and together they made up more than 10% of our power grid. And that put Texas in a state-wide lack of power.”

Abbott was far from the first Republican to take such blatantly false talking points in response to the ongoing Texas crisis that killed at least 10 people. But the governor’s decision to appear Fox news and attacking a policy that hasn’t even been implemented, as Texans resorted to burning their belongings to keep their children warm, was seen as yet another example of his failed leadership.

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“Five million Texans are out of power tonight and the temperatures are below freezing. People are sure to die tonight.” said Sawyer Hackett, senior adviser to Julián Castro. “But the Abbott administration had time to blame Sean Hannity for the Green New Deal.”

Referring to an official of the State Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT), The Texas Tribune reported that as of Tuesday afternoon, “16 gigawatts of renewable energy generation, mainly wind, was offline. Almost double that, 30 gigawatts, was lost to thermal sources, including gas, coal and nuclear.”

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

But that hasn’t stopped Texas Republicans like Abbott and Rep. And Crenshaw of attempts to blame frozen wind turbines for outages that can last for days, endanger lives, and vaccines against coronavirus.

In response to Abbott’s “Hannity” interview, Texas voting advocate Charlie Bonner tweeted, “He’s lying. People are dying, and he’s busy Fox news lie to you. We live in fear and Greg Abbott is playing with our lives politically. “

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

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

“He was neglecting the state’s outdated and deregulated power grid,” said Castro. “Now 4.4 million Texans have no power in freezing cold.”

In a interview On ABC 13 Earlier Tuesday in Houston, Abbott said officials from ERCOT – the agency that oversees Texas’s power grid – should resign for failing to be sufficiently transparent with the people of Texas during the storm and its aftermath.

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

“Abbott is the leader of the state,” Rahman said. He’s being notified of emergencies. He should be the one to quit his job. ‘

In a statement earlier this week, as temperatures dropped and millions lost power, Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said “Abbott’s inability to rule is not only negligent, but also incredibly dangerous.”

“People are freezing. Families can’t open their fridges, heat their food, or get supplies,” Hinojosa said. “Like the coronavirus crisis, Abbott’s negligence has put lives in danger once again. Abbott owes a statement to the people of Texas. And Texans deserve better than failed leaders who couldn’t get out of a shoebox.”

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