Texas Governor Slammed For Blaming Blackouts On Wind And Solar Power

Photo via @ndrew_lawrence/Twitter

February 17, 2021, 12:40 pm*

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is facing criticism and even calls to resign for passing the blame for his state’s blackouts onto green energy infrastructure they largely don’t have.

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Abbott even admitted that wind and solar power make up only “collectively more than 10 percent of our power grid,” but still claimed that this was the problem rather than the other 90 percent, which is oil and gas power.

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“It just shows that fossil fuel is necessary for the state of Texas as well as other states to make sure we’ll be able to heat our homes in the winter time and cool our homes in the summer time,” he said on Fox News while his citizens huddled in the cold.

You’re the governor of a state where millions don’t have power, where people are literally dying of exposure, and you go on Fox news to talk about… the Green New Deal? You are the governor. Your party has run Texas for 20 years. Accept responsibility & help us get out of this. https://t.co/G1Bai59nKc

— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) February 17, 2021

Many, including former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, have pointed out that blaming power failures on limited green energy contributions and a Green New Deal that didn’t pass into law when Republicans have been in charge of the state for decades is a bit suspect. Meanwhile, experts on the subject have already discovered that the real culprits were the ill-prepared natural gas pipelines, which froze over in the climate-change-fueled storms.

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“It appears that a lot of the generation that has gone offline today has been primarily due to issues on the natural gas system,” said Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) senior director Dan Woodfin.

It is empirically false that wind turbines do not work in cold weather. With windchill, it was a high of -19 in central Iowa on Monday and Iowa’s wind turbines were working fine.

— Zach Wahls (@ZachWahls) February 17, 2021

Some Republicans have also attempted to blame the problem on the state’s few wind turbines freezing over, but people from Midwest states that regularly experience below-freezing temperatures have pointed out that they don’t have the same problem.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the strongest supporters of the Green New Deal, was not happy to hear about Abbott and other Republicans somehow blaming the it for the blackouts that happened under their leadership.

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“I go offline a few days and return to a GOP Gov blaming policies he hasn’t even implemented for his own failures,” she wrote. “Gov. Abbott doesn’t seem to have a grasp on his state, so here’s a reminder: Texas runs 80-90% on fossil fuels. The real ‘deadly deal’ is his failed leadership.”

I go offline a few days and return to a GOP Gov blaming policies he hasn’t even implemented for his own failures.

Gov. Abbott doesn’t seem to have a grasp on his state, so here’s a reminder: Texas runs 80-90% on fossil fuels.

The real “deadly deal” is his failed leadership. https://t.co/a3YoEqks7K

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 17, 2021

Abbott also placed the blame at the feet of the ERCOT leadership, saying that they should all resign and demanding “transparency” from the entity. Abhi Rahman of the Texas Democrats responded to this by calling on Abbott to resign, considering the fact that he’s governor and therefore responsible for their failures.

“Abbott is the leader of the state,” he pointed out. “He gets briefed on emergencies. He should be the one that resigns.”

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Texas Democrats have responded: “Abbott is the leader of the state. He gets briefed on emergencies. He should be the one that resigns,” Abhi Rahman, TX Dems Comms Director.

— Jeremy Wallace (@JeremySWallace) February 17, 2021

Looks like Texas is turning blue one way or another.

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*First Published: February 17, 2021, 12:39 pm