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Not angry enough to get their elected officials to make the power grid changes needed to make it more robust to such things. I mean how can they when reps like

Not angry enough to get their elected officials to make the power grid changes needed to make it more robust to such things. I mean how can they when reps like Ted Cruz fly off to Cancun when the weather gets really bad.

39896880 2y ago
Notice the deflection by the Lt Governor: “People have a right to be extremely frustrated with CenterPoint. People are suffering through terribly oppressive heat, a lack of food and gasoline availability, debris everywhere, and much more,” Patrick said. “The poor and most vulnerable are suffering the most.” Not, “People have a right to be frustrated with the government,”
- ta125865421 2y ago
  What is going on over there? Seems like crazy town. With the geriatrics and corruption, good god it looks dystopian from a rando aussie pov.
  - FredPret 2y ago
    Any country looks dystopian from the news. From the outside, your own country seems to have a dystopian liking for government control of speech and the internet. If your daily experience does not align with this perception, consider that Texans might be in exactly the same boat as you, perception-vs-reality-wise.
    - sonotathrowaway 2y ago
      The attorney general of Texas is openly corrupt and is in the middle of a criminal trial. Acting like Texas isn’t uniquely shitty requires intentionally forgetting reality.
      - FredPret 2y ago
        The government of many places, like the EU and Australia, openly and regularly make moves to crack down on individual freedoms in favour of state power - and they aren’t even in criminal trials.
wannacboatmovie 2y ago
> Not angry enough to get their elected officials to make the power grid changes needed Do you have the magic solution that makes them resilient to natural disasters short of burying every single power line underground? Which is not only impractical but insanely expensive. The infrastructure has been physically damaged or destroyed. You fired off a politically charged comment and offered no specifics.
- harimau777 2y ago
  Increased trimming of trees near power lines. Apparently CenterPoint spent significantly less than some of the other power suppliers on maintenance. I don't know that it would help in this specific instance, but connecting Texas to the rest of the power grid would likely make the system overall more resilient.
  - blantonl 2y ago
    It wouldn't have helped. Trimming trees is preventative maintenance so that simple wind gusts don't trip lines when branches encroach on power lines. The only way you can prevent damage from falling trees is to completely remove them.
    - harimau777 2y ago
      Then it might be necessary to remove or relocate the trees since Houston is so vulnerable to hurricanes.
  - wannacboatmovie 2y ago
    > I don't know that it would help in this specific instance, but connecting Texas to the rest of the power grid would likely make the system overall more resilient. Irrelevant wishful thinking. The outages are caused by localized physical damage. There is no shortage of grid power. Inter-ties to every grid in the world wouldn't help when the wires on the last mile have been physically destroyed.
    - 2y ago

39896880 2y ago

Notice the deflection by the Lt Governor: “People have a right to be extremely frustrated with CenterPoint. People are suffering through terribly oppressive heat, a lack of food and gasoline availability, debris everywhere, and much more,” Patrick said. “The poor and most vulnerable are suffering the most.” Not, “People have a right to be frustrated with the government,”

ta125865421 2y ago
What is going on over there? Seems like crazy town. With the geriatrics and corruption, good god it looks dystopian from a rando aussie pov.
- FredPret 2y ago
  Any country looks dystopian from the news. From the outside, your own country seems to have a dystopian liking for government control of speech and the internet. If your daily experience does not align with this perception, consider that Texans might be in exactly the same boat as you, perception-vs-reality-wise.
  - sonotathrowaway 2y ago
    The attorney general of Texas is openly corrupt and is in the middle of a criminal trial. Acting like Texas isn’t uniquely shitty requires intentionally forgetting reality.
    - FredPret 2y ago
      The government of many places, like the EU and Australia, openly and regularly make moves to crack down on individual freedoms in favour of state power - and they aren’t even in criminal trials.

wannacboatmovie 2y ago

> Not angry enough to get their elected officials to make the power grid changes needed Do you have the magic solution that makes them resilient to natural disasters short of burying every single power line underground? Which is not only impractical but insanely expensive. The infrastructure has been physically damaged or destroyed. You fired off a politically charged comment and offered no specifics.

harimau777 2y ago
Increased trimming of trees near power lines. Apparently CenterPoint spent significantly less than some of the other power suppliers on maintenance. I don't know that it would help in this specific instance, but connecting Texas to the rest of the power grid would likely make the system overall more resilient.
- blantonl 2y ago
  It wouldn't have helped. Trimming trees is preventative maintenance so that simple wind gusts don't trip lines when branches encroach on power lines. The only way you can prevent damage from falling trees is to completely remove them.
  - harimau777 2y ago
    Then it might be necessary to remove or relocate the trees since Houston is so vulnerable to hurricanes.
- wannacboatmovie 2y ago
  > I don't know that it would help in this specific instance, but connecting Texas to the rest of the power grid would likely make the system overall more resilient. Irrelevant wishful thinking. The outages are caused by localized physical damage. There is no shortage of grid power. Inter-ties to every grid in the world wouldn't help when the wires on the last mile have been physically destroyed.
  - 2y ago