Fox News LIED About The Electric Grid Failure In Texas

 

The electric grid failure in Texas was a disaster for millions of Texans. That didn't matter to Fox News. They decided to use the disaster to push their own political agenda, and to do they they lied about the cause of the disaster. They said it was caused by the green energy proposal (even though none of that proposal has been instituted in Texas) and the use of renewable energy sources (such as wind energy). They failed to mention that the Texas windmills were not weatherized (as they are in other states), and that is why they froze.

Here is some of what PolitiFact had to say about the Fox News lies:

Fox News and other cable networks are spinning a false narrative that says frozen wind turbines, solar panels and even, somehow, the Green New Deal are to blame for Texas’ crippled energy system, according to a PunditFact review of closed caption information.

It’s true that about half of Texas’ wind power capacity was shut down early in the week as some turbine blades froze over thanks to a rare blast of Arctic air. 

But state energy officials and energy experts said early on that the bigger problem was that the state’s deregulated natural gas infrastructure was ill-equipped for the severe cold.

The Green New Deal hasn’t passed in Texas or elsewhere, and it wouldn’t be binding if it did.

Those are the facts behind the historic crisis in Texas, where rolling blackouts have left Texans boiling snow for water as they wait out the power outages and subfreezing temperatures.

But that’s not the story Fox News personalities are telling. There, hosts have pinned the blame solely or mostly on the frozen wind turbines. They have told viewers that Texans are feeling the sting of green energy policies in a state run for decades by Republicans.

Some of the most widespread and erroneous claims came from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whose primetime show is among the most-watched cable news programs.

"Unbeknownst to most people, the Green New Deal came to Texas, the power grid in the state became totally reliant on windmills," Carlson said Feb. 16. "Then it got cold, and the windmills broke, because that’s what happens in the Green New Deal."

PolitiFact rated the claim Pants on Fire. But Carlson wasn’t alone.

Between Feb. 15 and Feb. 16 alone, windmills or wind turbines were mentioned more than 100 times on Fox News’ and Fox Business Network’s programs, according to TVEyes, a media monitoring service. The Green New Deal was mentioned more than 25 times.

To a lesser extent, the same terms cropped up repeatedly on Newsmax TV and One America News Network, two newer stations competing for the same audience. . . .

In reality, experts said the primary problem was that Texas’ thermal power plants, which make up a larger share of the state’s energy supply, were not built to withstand the cold. The plants began to go offline just as freezing temperatures boosted the demand for heating, prompting the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to impose rolling blackouts. 

"To think that there’s anything wrong with renewables is entirely a red herring," said Sam Newell, an electricity expert at the Brattle Group, which has analyzed Texas’ power grid.