XPost: tx.guns, tx.general, alt.guitar.amps   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats   
   From: NoEmail@void.net   
      
    From $30 to $9,000   
      
   " In Texas electricity that last week cost $30 soared to $9,000 once the   
   bitter cold brought down much of the grid."   
      
   Let's see how that translates into our electric bill next month.   
      
   Some brutal facts about what lays ahead : :   
      
   The misery and death in Texas, where the state electric grid was taken   
   down by unusual but predictable cold weather, underscore the misguided   
   conservative Republican values of less regulation, devil-may-care   
   burning of fossil fuels, dangerous tax cuts and unfettered trust in   
   markets as the universal problem solver.   
      
   In Texas, the blame for the unheated homes, the dark urban skylines and   
   winter water shortages is on just one politician—Greg Abbott. He has   
   been governor of the Lone Star state for more than six years.   
      
   Abbott gained notoriety in the past few days for making the ridiculous   
   claim that Texans are freezing because windmills fail in the cold. The   
   fact is that they are running just fine in such spots as Iowa,   
   Minnesota, Alaska, Finland and even Siberia.   
      
   Texas didn't require that natural gas pipelines be built in anticipation   
   of severe weather, didn't require sufficient natural gas storage for   
   electric power plants and didn't insist that the electric grid itself be   
   hardened against severe heat and cold.   
      
   The reason Texans are freezing is that Texas:   
      
     Failed to require that natural gas pipelines be built in anticipation   
   of severe weather   
      
   Didn't require sufficient natural gas storage for electric power plants   
      
   Neglected to insist that the electric grid itself be hardened against   
   severe heat and cold, more of which is certain as climate change   
   generates raucous weather   
      
   What did Abbott do? He appointed all three members of the Texas Public   
   Utility Commission who failed to ensure adequacy of the Texas electric   
   grid for all weather.   
      
   Abbott's commissioners, embracing his anti-regulatory philosophy, did   
   not require adequate power generation reserves. That's crucial. When   
   electric generators go down in extreme weather, accidents or even   
   planned maintenance, there needs to be plentiful additional capacity to   
   ensure the juice flows.   
      
   The savings from cheapskating in this area are quickly overwhelmed by   
   the damage done by blackouts and days without power in either extreme   
   cold or extreme heat.   
      
   Allowing utilities to slash the size of their staffs, especially line   
   workers, compounds a disaster.   
      
   See more:   
      
   https://www.rawstory.com/texas-storm-2650619986/   
      
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)