This article criticizes Texas politicians for utilizing the Texas grid failure as a political opportunity to bash renewable energy and falsely represent the reliability of fossil fuels. Furthermore, following an NBC news investigation, the Texas grid crisis has since exposed the degree to which Texas elected officials and regulators have "cozied up" with fossil fuel advocates and lobbyists.
In particular, according to the NBC News, many of these politicians consulted with the known fossil-fuel apologist Alex Epstein on how to frame the grid disaster. Epstein, who has a bachelors degree in Philosophy, is the founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, a right wing think-tank that works to present the use of fossil fuels as a moral imperative. Accordingly, Epstein blamed the outages on Texas' over-reliance on wind and solar energy. This is patently false, as wind only accounts for 10% of the Texas power supply (as opposed to 72% represented by gas and coal) and wind actually outperformed fossil fueled power plants in some areas. But this didn't stop Texas Governor, Greg Abbot, or other Texas officials, from running Epstein's propaganda. Many of Alex Epstein's "Energy Talking Points" found their way into elected official's tweets and public statements, despite clear contrasts between his financially co-opted positions and those of other, well-respected energy experts at nearby UT Austin.
A. J. Dellinger, "Texas officials responded to the winter storm with propaganda they got from a pro-fossil fuel think tank", contributed by James Adams, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 5 April 2021, accessed 19 May 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/texas-officials-responded-winter-storm-propaganda-they-got-pro-fossil-fuel-think-tank
Critical Commentary
This article criticizes Texas politicians for utilizing the Texas grid failure as a political opportunity to bash renewable energy and falsely represent the reliability of fossil fuels. Furthermore, following an NBC news investigation, the Texas grid crisis has since exposed the degree to which Texas elected officials and regulators have "cozied up" with fossil fuel advocates and lobbyists.
In particular, according to the NBC News, many of these politicians consulted with the known fossil-fuel apologist Alex Epstein on how to frame the grid disaster. Epstein, who has a bachelors degree in Philosophy, is the founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, a right wing think-tank that works to present the use of fossil fuels as a moral imperative. Accordingly, Epstein blamed the outages on Texas' over-reliance on wind and solar energy. This is patently false, as wind only accounts for 10% of the Texas power supply (as opposed to 72% represented by gas and coal) and wind actually outperformed fossil fueled power plants in some areas. But this didn't stop Texas Governor, Greg Abbot, or other Texas officials, from running Epstein's propaganda. Many of Alex Epstein's "Energy Talking Points" found their way into elected official's tweets and public statements, despite clear contrasts between his financially co-opted positions and those of other, well-respected energy experts at nearby UT Austin.