Greg Abbott’s deal with the devil
The power grid disaster in Texas shattered the hoax perpetrated by Gov. Greg Abbott and his gang that our state’s power structure is secure and up-to-date. In reality the grid is deteriorated and badly neglected. Texas’ calamity serves as a warning to others living in states under regressive Republican governments. As Robert “Beto” O’Rourke so clearly pointed out Jan. 3 on MSNBC, if we want to know who’s truly at fault for this catastrophe, saddle up the horses and follow the money trail back to Abbott’s campaign lair. Beto recently called Texas “nearing a failed state” and blamed Republicans’ deregulation of the electric grid as discouraging its vital weatherization. Abbott is acting as shifty as a two-headed diamondback by revoking the COVID-19 mask mandate while we betrayed Texans are left to clean up the devastation, grieve a potentially staggering number of deaths and turn one helluva an outdated power grid mess into a secure and sustainable modern energy system.
Abbott is quite willing to shut off the electricity and keep Texans in the dark to continue banking vast amounts of campaign loot from his devil’s deal with big donors in the fossil fuel and power industries.
Abbott’s bankroll is as fat as a town dog. Abbott, in office since 2015, has raised more than $150 million. The oil and gas industries have ponied up a total of $26 million for Abbott’s campaigns. Lordy mercy, Greg! You’ve made out like a bandit. No other governor in U.S. history has struck that much pay dirt! Texas regulators and lawmakers have been warned for years about the grid’s vulnerabilities, but opted to spare large electricity providers from making expensive changes. Congratulations Abbott, you’re quite a power broker. Yes dumbass, you broke our power! Surely that filthy deal with oil and gas oligarchs was born in the bowels of perdition, far from the view of consumers. As more Texans get wind of how Abbott’s corruption is tied to the power shutdown, it will be as welcome as an outhouse breeze.
President Biden is getting ready to release his massive $2 trillion infrastructure proposal and big power money is riding roughshod on the notion that Abbott and governors of other Republican-dominated states will take out assault rifles and shoot the upcoming federal plan plug full of holes to continue their short-sighted, self-serving ways. Newly-named Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will surely get a frigid reception when they approach Abbott and other Republican governors with their plans for moving away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy and electrified transportation by 2050 — one of President’s Biden’s top four goals.
Abbott is scheming to sabotage reforms to the power grid that are built on phasing out fossil fuels and transitioning to renewable energy, but he’s squatting on his spurs. He’s been hollering about sovereign states’ rights and calling the federal infrastructure upgrade a “hostile attack.” He signed an executive order Jan. 28 directing “every state agency to use all lawful powers to challenge any federal action that threatens the energy sector of Texas.” As Abbott announced he was dropping the mask mandate March 3, he was grinning like a mule eating cockleburs. He is desperately trying to get the habanero-hot pressure off himself over the power grid failure and reenergize his Neanderthal-thinking, mask-hating base. Pissed off Texans, it’s time to turn your rage into a Democratic purple passion and offload Abbott and Republican state legislators who are up for reelection next year.
