MSNBC host Chris Hayes has criticized Fox News and right-wing media for falsely blaming wind turbines as the main cause of debilitating energy depletions affecting Texas, accusing “these charlatans” of pushing “idiocy” on Tuesday. painful of the war of culture ”in an effort to demonize energy cleansing.
With much of Texas in the dark as historic winter storms erupt, electricity demand has risen, and the right-wing media has blamed the lion’s share of the state’s wind farms. Showing images of frozen wind turbines, Fox News linked Joe Biden’s strength to green energy to the Texas catastrophe, even though the state gets most of its energy from fossil fuels.
Starting his real-time MSNBC program, recapping the devastation of Lone Star state, Hayes noted that more than four million Texans were stranded without energy amid freezing temperatures on Tuesday.
He then turned his attention to those who wanted to exploit the problem for political purposes.
“It simply came to our notice then. It is driven by a complex confluence of factors, from extreme weather to an underdeveloped electrical infrastructure to the idiosyncrasy of the aggressive deregulated and independent energy market in Texas, ”he said.
“But, of course, Fox News and other Republicans saw some kind of suffering, some kind of problem somewhere, and immediately – without missing a beat – they immediately tried to turn it into a cultural war, in this case against those wretched liberals. hippie and their clean energy “, added the progressive host MSNBC.
Interpreting a Fox star montage, blaming exclusively the deadly disruptions of windmills, claiming that wind power does not work at freezing temperatures, Hayes stressed how absurd those claims were.
“Imagine how stupid it would be to think it’s your audience, the contempt you have to hold, look in the room and try to sell them with the idea that windmills don’t work when it’s cold,” exclaimed he. “After Texas, Iowa is the state with the largest wind power in the country. If you’ve ever been to Iowa in the winter, I can tell you from personal experience that it’s pretty cold in Iowa. “
Adding that Denmark, a country with very cold winters, receives half of its power from the wind, All in The host quoted the senior director of the Texas Electric Reliability Council, who said earlier Tuesday that ice forcing wind turbines to close is “the least significant factor” in Texas disruptions.
“It’s just a lie that wind turbines, green energy, are the root causes of the problems in Texas right now,” Hayes said, comparing the statement to the “Big Lie” that the election was “stolen” from former President Donald Trump. .
“Let’s be clear, this is probably a lie as consistent as any election, because the energy and the way we produce it is the biggest problem this country will face in the medium term,” he continued.
Noting that power grids are “complicated” and “arcane things,” Hayes said that from time to time there is a disaster that reminds us that the grid is the foundation of modern civilization – and is also the key to overcoming climate change. ”.
“Republicans and the right-wing media want to take all political issues and turn them into a painful idiocy of cultural warfare,” Hayes said. “It simply came to our notice then. Fossil fuel companies want that too. They want it to turn into a cultural war, as if the free people don’t want you to have power. “
While saying that there is no reason why we cannot “create a modern energy infrastructure that is more resilient to climate change and also cheaper and also serves people better,” Hayes concluded that “The biggest obstacle will be these charlatans who will take every opportunity to lie to people for profit and power. ”