Texas power outage

Darkness comes for Dallas. Photo: Brandon Wade/AP/Shutterstock Texas is the energy capital of America, producing more power from oil, gas, and wind each year than any other state in the union. Yet on Tuesday morning, 4 million of its residents woke up without electricity , amid a historic polar vortex that left Dallas colder than Anchorage. This combination of near-zero temperatures and widespread power failures killed at least eight Texans, grounded flights at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport , threatened to spoil thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccine — and made the Texas Republican Party rue the day that it decided to give eco-socialism a chance. Or so much conservative commentary on the disaster would suggest. On Monday night, the most-watched anchor on America’s most-watched cable news channel informed his audience that the reason Texas is suffering blackouts this week is because the state’s Republican governor quietly implemented Alexandria … [Read more...] about No, the Green New Deal Did Not Cause the Texas Power Outage

(CNN) Texas is colder than it's been in decades, one of at least 25 states under a winter weather advisory during this week's historic cold outbreak . But as Texans scramble to stay warm, rolling power outages have begun across the state following high demand. Millions of customers across the US have lost power, with much of those outages occurring in Texas. Power outages can be dangerous for those unprepared for such intense winter chill. If you're among the Texans whose power has gone out or will go out at some point this week, here's what you need to know to stay warm and safe this week. Stay home Read More Staying indoors is your best bet at staying safe during a winter power outage, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Half of America is under winter weather advisories as freezing temperatures grip the country Stay off the roads if you can -- icy conditions could lead to car accidents. Just last … [Read more...] about What to do if you’re in the middle of a power outage

Tweets by Republican lawmakers from Texas mocking California power outages are being criticized this week as the Lone Star State grapples with winter storms that have caused many to lose power in their homes. GOP lawmakers dinged Democrats when in 2019 massive heat waves in California caused widespread power outages that impacted 30 of the state's 58 counties. Over the weekend, an unusual winter storm left millions in Texas without power, causing the state's power grid operator to declare its highest state of emergency and bringing to light the Republican lawmakers' old tweets. ADVERTISEMENT Here are three Texas Republicans mocking California power outages last year and my Dallas bathtub this morning, a literal block of ice pic.twitter.com/ViGZuTZz40 — Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) February 16, 2021 A tweet by Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward Cruz Texas governor faces criticism over handling of winter storm fallout Texas lawmakers' … [Read more...] about Texas lawmakers’ tweets mocking California power outages resurface amid winter storm

Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward Cruz Bette Midler: Texas freeze may be 'payback' for Cruz, Cornyn not recognizing 'that #Joe won' Texas governor faces criticism over handling of winter storm fallout Texas lawmakers' tweets mocking California power outages resurface amid winter storm MORE (R-Texas) on Thursday confirmed he flew to Mexico with family members Wednesday evening, responding for the first time to widespread backlash in his home state that's been battered by a severe winter storm. Cruz said in a statement shared with The Hill that he accompanied his daughters on a flight to Mexico since they had the week off with school canceled. “Wanting to be a good dad,” Cruz said, he decided to fly “with them last night and am flying back this afternoon.” ADVERTISEMENT “This has been an infuriating week for Texans,” he said, adding “the greatest state in the greatest country in the world has been without power. We have food lines, gas lines, and … [Read more...] about Cruz defends flying to Cancun amid Texas power outages

A refinery in Corpus Christi. Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images The energy crisis in Texas has exposed the glaring weak points of a regional power system designed to ignore cold weather extremes and federal oversight . Not only did the decision not to weatherize the state’s energy infrastructure result in blackouts for millions of Texans — which in turn resulted in water shortages for nearly 12 million more — preliminary data from the Texas Commission on Environment Quality shows that a spike in air pollutants occurred when petrochemical stations and oil refineries on the Gulf Coast were forced to go offline. Because electric supplies were also cut off for the plants on the coast, these refineries burned the gas in the system to prevent damage from taking place in their processing units. This practice, known as flaring, darkened the skies above the state’s massive refinery centers and sunk thousands of tons of air pollutants into the atmosphere in the span of a … [Read more...] about Texas Power Outages Caused a Spike in Air Pollutants