Former Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke is brushing off Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s (R) claim renewable energy is the source of power outages throughout the state.
CNN’S Anderson Cooper noted Abbott is defending his comments and arguing if Texas depended solely on green energy, it would be a challenge. He asked O’Rourke if Abbott’s claims made sense to him.
“No. There has been complete Republican control of the state of Texas for 20 years,” O’Rourke said.
He added, “The decision to deregulate our electricity grid in the first place and not to require additional capacity in emergencies like these, nor to connect to the rest of the national grids so that we can draw down power when we need it… These are all decisions made by Greg Abbott, Rick Perry, their predecessors, and other statewide elected Republicans.”
Watch his interview below:
"There has been complete Republican control of the state of Texas for 20 years."
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) February 18, 2021
Former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke dismisses Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's claim that renewable energy is responsible for power shortages during the winter storm in Texas. pic.twitter.com/EjrNPXPheq
O’Rourke claimed there is state leadership “that doesn’t believe in climate change.”
He continued, “It’s very clear that that’s what’s causing these extreme weather events. Whether it’s severe droughts in the summer or winter storms, the likes we haven’t seen in anyone’s lifetime in Texas.”
During an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday, Abbott explained why the Green New Deal would be disastrous for the nation.
“This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America. Texas is blessed with multiple sources of energy such as natural gas and nuclear as well as solar and wind,” he said.
Abbott added, “Our wind and our solar got shut down and they were collectively more than 10% of our power grid. And that thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power on a statewide basis.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) fired back at Abbott on Twitter.
“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.
I go offline a few days and return to a GOP Gov blaming policies he hasn’t even implemented for his own failures.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 17, 2021
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
“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,” Ocasio-Cortez concluded.