Friend,

Like most Americans, I was heartbroken by the images of suffering during last week's storms in Texas and couldn't stop wondering how such a nightmare could happen in our country.

And instead of accepting responsibility for the failure of leadership, the governor, state officials, and energy companies blamed wind turbines.

This has been an important conservative talking point over the last week, so I want to make something clear: In Texas, renewable energy outperformed fossil fuels in keeping the lights on and the heat going. Double the amount of energy was lost to fossil fuel-powered energy -- gas, coal, and nuclear energy -- than what was lost to renewables.

As one professor at the University of Texas at Austin put it: "Texas is a gas state."

Conservative pundits and lawmakers got on TV and Twitter and blamed wind turbines and the Green New Deal for Texas's problems -- but the problems existed in the infrastructure and the dependence on fossil fuels. And those problems will continue, and not just in Texas, if we don't truly face the threat of our climate crisis.

Extreme weather patterns will continue in strength and frequency unless we act -- but today, we act on what we can do right this very moment.

I'm committed to finding solutions to beat back the climate crisis, but for now Texans need our help. You can find a list of ways to assist those affected by the extreme weather thanks to CBS News, as well as ways for Texas themselves to get help if they need it.

No more families should have to suffer for us to make fighting the climate crisis a real priority. I'm thinking of every family in Texas -- and every family across the country -- who felt abandoned while experiencing the effects of extreme weather.

You're not alone, and we haven't forgotten you -- I promise, we're going to make progress so this doesn't happen again.

Thank you,

Dean Phillips