News release from The Border Organization
The Texas IAF (Industrial Areas Foundation) Network of community organizations, including The Border Organization (TBO) is demanding accountability from state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and former Governor Rick Perry, for creating a situation which has left Texas families, including every family in Val Verde County, in a desperate situation as they lose electrical power and water service. Communities across the state, from working class to upper middle-class neighborhoods have been subjected to rolling blackouts in situations when electrical power is most essential.
Governor Abbott’s claim that the present disaster is the result of investment in the “New Green Deal” would be ludicrous were it not for the tragic consequences being suffered by thousands of people in the state. The Governor should be reminded that wind turbines in Antarctica work quite well.
“The situation in which we find ourselves is no accident of nature; it is an egregious example of crony capitalism. Abbott and Perry, along with their cronies have segregated most of Texas in a separate power grid to evade federal regulators to produce a grid that is substandard while grid managers rake in huge profits,” said Sandra Fuentes, TBO leader.
Cynthia Vazquez, TBO leader states: “Rick Perry just told the people of the state that we should all be happy to endure no electricity and no water in these frigid conditions to keep federal regulators out of Texas. My message to Perry is, let him spend three days in Del Rio without heat and water in these conditions, then, we’ll take him seriously.
The Network of Texas IAF Organizations has a message for Governor Abbott, Lt. Governor Patrick, and other state leaders: do your job and respond now to the needs of the people of the state. You were elected to serve the people, not the managers of the state power grid and their cronies.
- Immediately release state funds to local governments for direct assistance for food, water, supplies. Our communities are running out of food and gasoline.
- Work with federal government and FEMA to bring immediate national assistance to Texas.
- Restructure ERCOT to ensure that this does not happen again. Its time for Texas to join national power grids. Communities like El Paso and Lubbock that belong to interstate grida are not experiencing the same problems as many other cities in Texas served by ERCOT.
Over the long term, we are insisting that ERCOT invest in “winterizing” our power, water, and other utilities to prevent future disaster. We demand that state leaders own up to the anti-regulation ideology that has done damage to Texas’s infrastructure, and to take action to turn it around.
The Network of Texas IAF Organizations are non partisan, institutionally based community organizations whose purpose is to train leaders to organize families around issues which affect their quality of life. The network includes Communities Organized for Public Service and The Metro Alliance in San Antonio, The Border Organization, Valley Interfaith in the Rio Grande Valley; TMO in Houston; EPISO and Border Interfaith In El Paso; Austin Interfaith; ACT in Fort Worth; Dallas Area Interfaith; AMOS- Arlington , The West Texas Organizing Strategy; and Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange.
