Posted on 02/16/2021 8:06:28 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Millions of Texans have lost power in the middle of a cold snap that brought below-freezing temperatures across the state. Struggling to keep warm in homes that are poorly insulated, some are turning to unsafe methods that will likely get them killed. One resident told The Washington Post that after only eight hours without power in Houston it was like an “apocalypse,” and she feared they’d “see a nightmare situation in the next few days.”
Commenting on the blackout in his home state, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry pointed out how important it is to have a diverse energy landscape. In recent years, however, reliance on coal has declined while renewable energy sources have been increasing.
How’s that working out? We’re seeing it play out now, Fox News's Tucker Carlson said Monday during his monologue.
“The windmills froze, so the power grid failed. Millions of Texans woke up Monday morning having to boil their water because with no electricity, it couldn't be purified,” he commented, noting the Green New Deal has arrived.
“The ironically named Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the grid, had no solution to any of this. They simply told people to stop using so much power to keep warm," Carlson continued. "So in Houston, hundreds of shivering Texans headed to the convention center like refugees to keep from freezing to death. Some Texans almost certainly did freeze to death. Later this week, we'll likely learn just how many more were killed as they tried to keep warm with jury-rigged heaters and barbecues and car exhaust.”
While blackouts have become commonplace in states like California, it’s surprising in Texas.
If there's one thing you would think Texas would be able to do, it's keep the lights on. Most electricity comes from natural gas and Texas produces more of that than any place on the continent. There are huge natural gas deposits all over the state. Running out of energy in Texas is like starving to death at the grocery store: You can only do it on purpose, and Texas did.
Rather than celebrate and benefit from their state's vast natural resources, politicians took the fashionable route and became recklessly reliant on so-called alternative energy, meaning windmills. Fifteen years ago, there were virtually no wind farms in Texas. Last year, roughly a quarter of all electricity generated in the state came from wind. Local politicians were pleased by this. They bragged about it like there was something virtuous about destroying the landscape and degrading the power grid. Just last week, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott proudly accepted something called the Wind Leadership Award, given with gratitude by Tri Global Energy, a company getting rich from green energy.
So it was all working great until the day it got cold outside. The windmills failed like the silly fashion accessories they are, and people in Texas died. (Fox News)
And this is one of the renewable energy sources the Biden administration and his climate allies are so eagerly pushing on the rest of America, despite the fact that they’re less reliable, inefficient, more expensive, and kill a ton of birds.
What the rest of us think matters not, however, because “green energy is the ultimate inside game” for the small number of individuals who profit.
Not a warning if the people aren’t educated.
The Left is already pushing the narrative that it wasn’t those renewables, it was shortcomings in the grid and conventional generation plants. I’ve already seen it.
Greg Abott said yesterday said that Texas’ natural gas and coal generators also froze along with the pipelines.
Can someone educate me how generators freeze at 0F?
This is a less biased view. https://spacecityweather.com/the-power-situation-is-disastrous-and-it-likely-wont-be-fixed-tonight/?fbclid=IwAR2o9rGkkHNBhr1xaJ-v8DdwpiiG9v9LgfR27I70rFb5g3Sf14xRUcKsjAA
The power generating companies are claiming the same. Are they leftists?
Water intake.
Of course the answer will to build even more solar farms and wind farms. Why yes Virginia, “they” are that stoopid. 😯
My objection is the use of farmland for solar farms....AND the fact that the electricity doesn’t serve the locality that surrounds the farm. The Towns want the money without thoughts of the future.
Thank you. Forgot about the water aspect of large generators.
I do know that gas volumes from producing wells has plummeted. We had to shut-in all of our high-volume wells. The reason is that they make a large amount of salt water and once the tanks at the well fill up, if no truck can make it out to take the water to a disposal well, then the well has to be shut-in. The trucks should start up again today and some wells will be brought on-line.
National gas and coal plants are offline in Texas. It’s not just the windmills.
I know I will be lobbying the Gov. Abbott to require all gas/coal electric generators to have over capacity generation capability equal to the % of wind and solar that can be brought on line within hours (If a plant generates 100 Megawatts, it must have the % of wind/solar in reserve - say 25% = 25 Megawatts currently). Plants could use a rotating system to keep above capacity elements maintained and available.
According to another story, “Industry officials were scrambling to restore power at dozens of natural gas and coal plants, which tripped offline on Sunday evening and Monday.” So which is it? Renewable or gas and coal?
The left is correct here...most of the blame is on natural gas plants. Coal and heavy fuel oil would have done better.
Do you have a good source on that?
Farmland? Why everyone knows you just plant under the solar arrays, you silly conservative.
For years the Nuclear and Coal powered plants in the NORTH and the Northeast never shut down.
Chicago routinely goes below 0 Deb. F in the winter
Not a problem. I live in a state where cold weather is normal and don’t know how our utilities deal with the water issue.
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