MSNBC Live host Stephanie Ruhle asked correspondent Morgan Chesky the question that was on a lot of people's minds Wednesday morning: "why is this power grid failing so badly" in Texas? According to both of them, it's because Texas' conservative energy policies led to companies putting profits over people, which resulted in the failure to properly winterize equipment.
According to Chesky, the attempts to blame wind turbines that have stopped working in the low temperatures are misguided because, "that only makes up a small portion of the massive sources of energy that Texas has at its disposal."
Chesky, instead pointed to the "natural gas pipelines that froze up because they're being built without any insulation. And we saw a nuclear plant that provides energy have to temporarily shut down due to a safeguard caused by the cold."
At this point it would have been useful for Chesky to point out that Texas has not only seen very cold weather, but has shattered temperature records that are in some cases well over 100 years old.
Instead, Chesky blamed policies that were passed in the '90s under George W. Bush:
The equipment that provides so much of the power to so many Texans was not properly winterized and some people would point to the fact Texas had its power supply deregulated back in the '90s and you would say critics say because of these businesses we're focusing on profits, they were not necessarily concerned with maintenance to prepare for a worse-case scenarios like we're experiencing right now. In all, it was not built to sustain this many people turning to heat their homes and try to heat up water at the same time simultaneously.
Chesky then sort-of acknowledged the historical nature of the situation, "This winter storm caused the first winter storm warning over the entire state of Texas, all 254 counties, the first time in history," but did not say how a more regulated system would have made life any better for those currently without power.
Ruhle then concluded the segment by also blaming GOP policies, "It's an important reminder it's not regulation good or bad, it’s about smart regulation. The reason regulation is put in place is to protect everyday individuals. When you have mass deregulation in an emergency situation like this, you have millions and millions of individuals not protected."
This segment was sponsored by Vicks.
Here is a transcript for the February 17 show:
MSNBC
MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle
9:23 AM ET
STEPHANIE RUHLE: But that same governor is blaming the Green New Deal and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and let's remind our audience, the Green New Deal was never passed federally or in Texas. AOC has nothing to do with that state. What in the world is he talking about, and why is this power grid failing so badly?
MORGAN CHESKY: want to make a couple of key clarifications here, Steph. So, one of the things that's come under fire recently the last several days is the renewable energy here in Texas, particularly the one driven by the wind. The massive turbines out in West Texas, they did suffer issues due to the cold. Those massive turbine blades had ice build up on them and because of incredibly cold temperatures, the batteries that store power there to be dispersed whenever we do have events like this actually drain faster than anticipated because of the incredibly cold weather. Now, that having been said, that only makes up a small portion of the massive sources of energy that Texas has at its disposal. Also we saw natural gas pipelines that froze up because they're being built without any insulation. And we saw a nuclear plant that provides energy have to temporarily shut down due to a safeguard caused by the cold. It depends who you ask but as stands now, the equipment that provides so much of the power to so many Texans was not properly winterized and some people would point to the fact Texas had its power supply deregulated back in the '90s and you would say critics say because of these businesses we're focusing on profits, they were not necessarily concerned with maintenance to prepare for a worse-case scenarios like we're experiencing right now. In all, it was not built to sustain this many people turning to heat their homes and try to heat up water at the same time simultaneously. This winter storm caused the first winter storm warning over the entire state of Texas, all 254 counties, the first time in history. Steph.
RUHLE: It's an important reminder it's not regulation good or bad, it’s about smart regulation. The reason regulation is put in place is to protect everyday individuals. When you have mass deregulation in an emergency situation like this, you have millions and millions of individuals not protected.
