(Originally published as a Climate Friday on Facebook)
There is a lot of misinformation about what’s going on with the Texas power grid. Let’s be clear, the main issue with the power grid is that it wasn’t “weatherized” to handle extreme cold weather. This is a system-wide problem. Why this is the case is a little complicated, but I want to be clear about something: people are lying about this for their political benefit.
Some dishonest right-wing politicians like Dan Crenshaw and Greg Abbott are trying to blame wind power for the whole situation, that’s utter nonsense.
It’s true that the wind turbines in Texas haven’t been weatherized to withstand cold weather (they work perfectly well in Scotland and Greenland when properly weatherized), but neither have any of the other resources. Coal, nuclear, and natural gas are all struggling to produce power right now, but natural gas is having the hardest time of all. Anyone who tries to tell you that wind or renewables are the primary culprit is either lying to you or, pardon the expression, completely full of shit.
The situation right now is what happens when a completely unexpected extreme weather event collides with infrastructure that wasn’t built to handle it.
If you want to know why I’m so concerned about climate change and why I feel so strongly that this is important, just look at the very real human suffering that’s happening right now. And this isn’t a Texas problem, it’s an everywhere problem. Phoenix can handle 110 degrees, Boston can’t. Florida can handle big hurricanes, New York can’t.
We need to be honest about this issue and push back against anyone who tries to confuse the situation. That starts with operating within the realm of reality and not letting people get away with lying for political benefit.
The Mangrove 