<p>"Five million Texans are without power tonight and temperatures are below freezing. People will most certainly die tonight because of it," <a href="https://twitter.com/SawyerHackett/status/1361889145371639817" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> Sawyer Hackett, senior adviser to Julián Castro. "But Gov. Abbott had time to go on Sean Hannity to blame the Green New Deal."</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="14ac730106e9b5bc8c01ebd4a31a63e7" id="29c91"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1361866553998909442"><div style="margin:1em 0">Texas Gov. Abbott blames solar and wind for the blackouts in his state and says "this shows how the Green New Deal… https://t.co/MnUmp8MxhB</div> — Andrew Lawrence (@Andrew Lawrence)<a href="https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/statuses/1361866553998909442">1613529263.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Citing an official with the state's Electric Reliability Council (ERCOT), <em>The Texas Tribune</em> <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/texas-wind-turbines-frozen/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported</a> that as of Tuesday afternoon "16 gigawatts of renewable energy generation, mostly wind generation, was offline. Nearly double that, 30 gigawatts, had been lost from thermal sources, which includes gas, coal and nuclear energy."</p><p>"Texas is a gas state," Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told the <em>Tribune</em>. "Gas is failing in the most spectacular fashion right now."</p><p>But that hasn't stopped Texas Republicans like Abbott and <a href="https://twitter.com/RepDanCrenshaw/status/1361792727097212929" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rep. Dan Crenshaw</a> from attempting to blame frozen wind turbines for outages that <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2021/02/16/ercot-says-they-have-no-idea-when-texas-power-outages-will-end/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">could continue for days</a>, endangering lives and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/16/failed-state-power-outages-amid-freezing-weather-texas-threaten-lives-and-covid" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">coronavirus vaccines</a>.</p><p>In response to Abbott's "Hannity" interview, Texas voting rights advocate Charlie Bonner <a href="https://twitter.com/CharlieKBonner/status/1361886630127177728" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, "He is lying. People are dying, and he is on <em>Fox News</em> lying to you. We are living in fear and Greg Abbott is playing politics with our lives."</p><p>"Greg Abbott doesn't care if you live or die tonight so take care of each other, my friends," Bonner added. "We're living in a failed state."</p><p>Castro sent a similar message Tuesday afternoon, <a href="https://twitter.com/JulianCastro/status/1361745469349761025" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">writing</a> that "Governor Abbott failed to prepare for this storm, was too slow to respond, and now blames everyone but himself for this mess."</p><p>"He neglected the state's antiquated and deregulated electrical grid," said Castro. "Now 4.4 million Texans have no power in freezing conditions."</p><p>In an <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Gov-Abbott-calls-on-ERCOT-leaders-to-resign-over-15955602.php?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">interview</a> on <em>ABC 13</em> in Houston earlier Tuesday, Abbott said that officials at ERCOT—the agency that oversees Texas' power grid—should resign over their failure to be sufficiently transparent with the people of Texas during the storm and its aftermath.</p><p>But Abhi Rahman, communications director for Texas Democrats, <a href="https://twitter.com/JeremySWallace/status/1361873615105314818" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> Abbott is the one who should step aside.</p><p>"Abbott is the leader of the state," said Rahman. "He gets briefed on emergencies. He should be the one that resigns."</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.texasdemocrats.org/media/over-2-7-million-texans-remain-without-power-while-greg-abbott-relaxes-and-waits/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a> earlier this week as temperatures plunged and millions lost power, Texas Democratic Party chair Gilberto Hinojosa said that "Abbott's inability to govern is not only negligent but incredibly dangerous."</p><p>"People are freezing. Families can't open their fridge, heat their food, or go grab supplies," said Hinojosa. "Much like the coronavirus crisis, Abbott's negligence has once again put lives at risk. Abbott owes an explanation to the people of Texas. And Texans deserve better than failed leaders who couldn't lead their way out of a shoebox."</p><p><em>This article first appeared on Common Dreams. You can read it </em><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/17/he-lying-people-are-dying-calls-texas-governor-resign-he-blames-power-outages-wind" target="_blank"><em>here.</em></a></p>From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Keep Reading
Show less