Don Lemon calls out Texas governor for lying about why most of state has no power

As millions of Texans continue to go without heat, power or water due to historic, prolonged extreme cold, CNN’s Don Lemon called out Governor Greg Abbott Wednesday night for attempting to politicize the current crisis. Conservative media has been quick to blame renewable energy for the state’s predicament, and Abbott went on Hannity Tuesday night where he parroted these claims.

“This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America,” Abbott said, adding, “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.”

“Okay, so he told on himself right there,” Lemon responded. “Ten percent. Come on, man.”

Multiple news outlets both in Texas and around the country have reported that only a fraction of power in texas is generated by renewable energy, with the vast majority coming from natural gas, coal and nuclear power, all of which have been rendered useless because of the cold. The current disaster could have been averted had the energy infrastructure been winterized as it should have been years ago. Lemon was quick to point out both of these truths.

“What is failing right now is the majority of the power source, and that power comes from what? Oil and gas. Weatherizing this equipment is voluntary in Texas. And guess what, they didn't choose that option, Lemon said, later adding, “The governor is making this massive and very dangerous and deadly outage all about politics. Fossil fuel is necessary to heat homes. So governor Abbott, where is the fuel to heat homes all across Texas? Where is it?”

Video Transcript

DON LEMON: The governor is making this massive and very dangerous and deadly outage all about politics. Fossil fuel is necessary to heat homes. So Governor Abbott, where is the fuel to heat homes all across Texas? Where is it?

KYLIE MAR: As millions of Texans go without power heat or water due to prolonged extreme cold, CNN's Don Lemon called out Governor Greg Abbott Wednesday night, who went on Fox News one night earlier and blamed renewable energy for the problem.

GREG ABBOTT: This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America.

Our wind and our solar that got shut down, and they were collectively more than 10% of our power grid.

DON LEMON: OK. So he told it himself right there, 10%. Come on, man.

KYLIE MAR: Lemon went on to set the record straight that fossil fuels supply the large majority of power in Texas and that state lawmakers failed to properly prepare for the current circumstances.

DON LEMON: What is failing right now is the majority of the power source. And that power comes from what, oil and gas. Weatherizing this equipment is voluntary in Texas. And guess what, they didn't choose that option.

KYLIE MAR: And Lemon lamented the fact that Abbott felt comfortable even trying to gaslight the country in such a way.

DON LEMON: Only in 2021 could we be told that in a state rich in energy-- this is Texas, right, oil country-- that the root of the problem is wind or solar. And some people are just eating it up.