I would just like to point out how serious this situation was for us Sunday night / Monday morning. Power grids ITE dropped down to 59Hz for a while ... we nearly destroyed our own grids because of short-sightedness and cost-cutting greed. 6 of the houses around me suffered ruptured pipes, flooding the streets (which then froze again), and leaving these people without water. I spent days helping shut off water lines, cleaning up sheetrock, insulation, and now boiling water to give out because of the massive disruption in both power and water supplies, treatment plants couldn't process the water enough. Shit is getting in from broken mains and lines. A significant number of water distribution sites set up by the county simply provide access to tap water that you still have to boil -- presuming you actually have power and gas, which isn't a guarantee.
There's no point here. I'm just mad as hell.
I don't live there anymore, but my g/f and her fam and mine are still there, CONSTANT source of fucking anxiety.
I still have some of my little helpful things like battery powered lantern, 9-hour candles, etc, from my spat of homelessness, so I just spent most of my down time reading inside a sleeping bag. Thankfully phones didn't work for the first few days, so I missed all the e-mails and phone calls about how I was still expected to be at work, haha.
What these outlets failed to mention is that Covid-19 cases and deaths were rising significantly in Texas and Mississippi in the days leading up to their governors’ announcements. In Texas, average daily new cases rose from 4,252 on February 20 to 7,754 on March 1—an increase of 82% in nine days. Average daily deaths went from 127 on February 20 to 230 on March 1, an 81% rise.
Mississippi—whose per capita rate of Covid infection is similar to that of Texas—saw average daily new cases rise 42% in just six days before Reeves’ declaration, with deaths rising 68% over the same period.
What’s more, the test positivity rate in both states also put them among the 10 worst in the country at the time—as did their vaccination rates. At the time of Abbott’s announcement, Texas ranked last among the states in vaccines administered per capita. (Currently Texas is still last in terms of the proportion of its population fully vaccinated.)
But rather than pointing out that these states’ relaxation of Covid restrictions were coming in the midst of an alarming upswing in both cases and deaths, NPR (3/2/21) offered selective numbers that supported the governors’ arguments.
It’s a response to the sentiment on Wall Street that oil and gas companies are contributing to climate change — and may not be a good investment in the midst of an energy transition. The bill seeks to divest the state’s massive investment funds from firms that “boycott” fossil fuel companies.
“Oil and gas is the lifeblood of the Texas economy,” state Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said on the House floor before the bill was approved in a 92-51 vote. “In the world of capital, there’s a movement to deny funds to businesses that will not sign on to extreme anti-fossil fuel policy.”
Pressure is increasing on Wall Street for companies and investment funds to reduce financial support for oil and gas companies due to the outsized impact the industry has on carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Last year, Larry Fink, founder and chief executive of BlackRock, one of the world’s largest investment companies, wrote to shareholders that the firm would make climate change “a defining factor” in its investment strategy.
King said he spoke to an engineer in the energy industry who said the “virtue signaling” by BlackRock has changed capital availability to oil companies.
Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday he would veto the section of the state budget that funds the Legislature hours after a Democratic walkout killed his priority elections bill.
“No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities,” Abbott said in a tweet. “Stay tuned.”
Late Sunday night, enough Democrats left the House to break a quorum and block passage of the elections bill, Senate Bill 7, before a midnight deadline. Calling the bill’s failure “deeply disappointing,” Abbott quickly made clear he would call a special session to get it passed, though he has not specified a timeline.
Abbott’s tweet referred to Article X of the budget, which pays not only lawmakers and staff but also funds legislative agencies, such as the Legislative Budget Board. Under the current budget, the legislative branch is funded through the end of August, and the budget Abbott is referring to covers the fiscal year starting Sept. 1.
While it is uncertain he could constitutionally halt payments to legislators, this would harm all the support staff in/around the capitol. A point seemingly lost on most of the reporting of this.