Climate change is wreaking havoc with the weather and that is nothing new. It’s also nothing that is going to change. You recall the Iowa “derecho,” and last year’s California “firenado” now we have the Texas “snowado.” This is not going to go away. States need to do infrastructure development and prepare for these anomalies because they’re not anomalies, they’re the way things are now, considering that the dominate species on this planet has defaulted on its prime commission to act as steward to the world, and climate change is treated as political controversy rather than the existential threat that it is.
At least 10 people are dead in Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott is feeling the heat, no pun intended, and he is doing everything from demanding the resignation of the heads of the utility companies to going on Fox News and blaming the current blackout of power on the failure of wind turbines and green energy — which is certainly ironic in a state which is dominated by energy from natural gas. Common Dreams:
The youth-led Sunrise Movement on Wednesday joined growing calls for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to resign over leadership failures that left Texas woefully unprepared for the historic and deadly winter storm that pummeled the state this week, spurring widespread and life-threatening power outages that sent millions desperately scrambling for warmth.
Paris Moran, Sunrise’s digital director, was one of the estimated 15 million people affected by the Texas blackouts, which continued into Wednesday morning as nearly three million households are still without electricity amid below-freezing temperatures.
“Governor Abbott has failed to protect Texans from the climate crisis, promoting a deadly fossil fuel economy and selling us out alongside other leaders for privatization and destructive deregulation. On Sunday, my household lost power,” Moran said in a statement Wednesday. “Our food went bad. We don’t have a consistent water flow. My family and I are sustaining on one meal a day as food deserts worsen. And each moment without power, my heart breaks as my parents suffer not only from the storm, but because they can’t use the medical devices they rely on to ease them of pain. We are hungry, thirsty, cold, and hurting. And we are not alone in this.”
“Abbott and the Republican Party have proven that they will not govern under any circumstance, no matter how many lives are at risk,” Moran continued. “Whether it’s utility blackouts, the climate crisis, or coronavirus, it’s easier to find misinformation here in Texas than actual updates from our government, utility companies, and other institutions.”
When disaster hits, a government should be there for its people, not abandon them.
As climate disasters continue to worsen, we need a resilient electrical grid, functioning infrastructure, and a government that's there to help.
We need a Green New Deal.https://t.co/6fWJcQqGST
— Sunrise Movement ? (@sunrisemvmt) February 17, 2021
Of course Abbott was on Sean Hannity’s show last night blaming renewable energy sources and nothing could be farther from the truth.
“Texas is a gas state,” Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Tribune. “Gas is failing in the most spectacular fashion right now.”
But that hasn’t stopped Texas Republicans like Abbott and Rep. Dan Crenshaw from attempting to blame frozen wind turbines for outages that could continue for days, endangering lives and coronavirus vaccines.
In response to Abbott’s “Hannity” interview, Texas voting rights advocate Charlie Bonner tweeted, “He is lying. People are dying, and he is on Fox News lying to you. We are living in fear and Greg Abbott is playing politics with our lives.”
“Greg Abbott doesn’t care if you live or die tonight so take care of each other, my friends,” Bonner added. “We’re living in a failed state.”
Castro sent a similar message Tuesday afternoon, writing that “Governor Abbott failed to prepare for this storm, was too slow to respond, and now blames everyone but himself for this mess.”
“He neglected the state’s antiquated and deregulated electrical grid,” said Castro. “Now 4.4 million Texans have no power in freezing conditions.”
In an interview on ABC 13 in Houston earlier Tuesday, Abbott said that officials at ERCOT—the agency that oversees Texas’ power grid—should resign over their failure to be sufficiently transparent with the people of Texas during the storm and its aftermath.
But Abhi Rahman, communications director for Texas Democrats, said Abbott is the one who should step aside.
“Abbott is the leader of the state,” said Rahman. “He gets briefed on emergencies. He should be the one that resigns.”
Texans deserve so much better. As the Texas Democratic Party chair Gilberto Hinojosa put it, “Much like the coronavirus crisis, Abbott’s negligence has once again put lives at risk. Abbott owes an explanation to the people of Texas. And Texans deserve better than failed leaders who couldn’t lead their way out of a shoebox.”
The TOP-DOWN GOP complicity and union of idiots under Trump’s mealy-mouthed maniacal, Malignant Narcissism, which, indeed has been at the root of thousands of dead and still dying US Citizens, the problems that affect THE PEOPLE, the most, are ignored and exacerbated by the, “Local GOP”, Govs, on down.
But hey, let’s celebrate rising temperatures next week …
Texas was told 10 years ago that they’d have problems in extreme weather (by the feds), and they did nothing to prepare. (I’m glad that some parts aren’t frozen solid – mostly the parts that routinely get below-freezing temps.)
Now, who was governor of TX 10 years ago?
Well my power went down last night. Wife called it in and took probably three hours to get it going again. We have some kerosene heaters and I got one out of garage and got it going. It really saved us. I feel for those people. It didn’t take long at all to Congress l down. Waited to see if they woul just flip a switch and after an hour that heater was on. Two places on our street must have generators because they had lights on. I remember back in 2006 we had major ice storm and several states lost power. I learned from that. Back then they were selling heaters for 2 to 3 times what they cost. I just managed to get in farm store and get one. They were selling out the back of a semi and sold out. Still got mine. No some of them dumbasses sold there’s For probably 1/3 of cost.
Knock on wood. Electricity still on. And water still dripping.
Cruz went to Cancun. Should have taken Gov Dumbass, LtGov Ahole, and AG Crooked with him.
Things are warming up gradually. By Saturday. Well, we shall see. Although Austin and San Antonio getting hit with new rain/ice.
Really don’t want to see/hear about energy bills coming up. And what folks made a killing $$.
as one with power and water, we’ve been hosting the relatives. Kitchen sink is out, wonder when we will get a plumber out to look at that. water boil notice now. that should be fun.
I can feel for the poor souls suffering in Texas right now. Here in the Midwest, below zero temps and snow are normal for this time of year. Texas not so much. Their homes are not built to withstand the kind of weather that they are having, most folks there probably don’t have warm cloths, the cities don’t have plows and equipment like those of us who live farther north. Their separate electrical grid is obviously not able to handle the extra demands of the current weather there.