They do this all the time. Maybe Biden should call their bluff, execute his powers as Commander in Chief, and order the National Guard in Texas to turn on State Police.

  • thefartographer
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    44
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 months ago

    Hey! Y’all used to rely on us to kick-start y’all’s power grids! Back in the '70s and '80s! Back when racism and cocaine reigned supreme!

    Now y’all are all like, “ew, why is that racist coke-head talking to me?” Well, it’s cuz you’re woke or something!

    Hey! Listen to me and stop walking away! Why are you taking our American flags?? Hello?

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      cake
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      30
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      5 months ago

      Speaking of power grids, have fun trying to keep yours maintained once you secede, Texas. It barely works as it is now.

      • thefartographer
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        35
        ·
        5 months ago

        I bet it’ll run just fine on thoughts and prayers. Good luck to you, ya Yankee heathen!

        Oh shoot, my lights ran out of thoughts — gotta switch to the backup prayers…

      • jubejube@lemmus.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        66
        ·
        5 months ago

        Really? It seems to be working great. In fact, Texas has the most diverse power generation with nat gas AND coal AND solar (largest national producer) AND wind (largest national producer) AND nuclear. Coupled with the largest oil play in America along with a significant amount of the country’s refining capacity, I think Texas would be just fine in a secession.

        • thefartographer
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          34
          ·
          5 months ago

          As someone who had to wrap my dementia-affected grandmother in blankets and help her sleep next to my mom’s fireplace while she randomly woke up yelling out my recently-deceased grandfather’s name back in February 2021, I’m gonna say our problem is less about diversification and more about maintenance, infrastructure, oversight, and corruption/improper investments.

          There’s a wolf going through your neighborhood that can easily get into homes with old alarm systems but easily defeated by updated security. Are you gonna let the wolf eat you because you’re so proud of how well you designed your old-ass system and the cool modern features it can mimick, or are you gonna call the fucking alarm company and update your security system no matter the cost?

          We keep trying nothing and then saying, “but it won’t be so bad this time because we invested more money into the people who failed us last time.”

          • jubejube@lemmus.org
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            33
            ·
            5 months ago

            Yep I completely agree there. They didn’t upgrade the plants to be ready for a cold snap back in Feb 21. I was right in the middle of it. Can you confidently say nothing has been done to mitigate it for next time? Because it just hit -10 for three days without a problem.

            • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              24
              ·
              edit-2
              5 months ago

              Can you confidently say nothing has been done to mitigate it for next time?

              Yes. Nothing has been done to mitigate it for next time. ERCOT uses weather and manufactured scarcity to drive increased profits as we suffer. They will not willingly fix anything, and there is no mechanism to force them to fix anything.

              Abbott is heavily funded by ERCOT. What ERCOT wants, ERCOT gets and Abbott will sit by and placate Texans about it as needed. That’s what he’s paid by them to do.

              When Abbott and ERCOT say “we’ve done a lot of things to prevent this from happening again. We invested in more generation and winterization”, but then point to nothing substantial, what they are saying is they’ve done nothing to prevent another opportunity for them to manufacture scarcity on the bodies of dead Texans again.

              During this latest cold spell last week, which was significantly warmer state-wide than the blackout event, ERCOT issued rolling blackout warnings for three days, warning us that rolling blackouts were possible over and over again. They falsely blamed wind generation short-comings, despite wind advisories and wind storms all week long all over Texas.

              They are terrible liars and, instead of pushing back on them, you defend them. Why? Why are you defending vile, grotesque sub-humans who profit on the deaths of fellow Texans?

              Every word uttered by a conservative is deception or manipulation. Never, ever believe a conservative. Never.

            • thefartographer
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              11
              ·
              5 months ago

              You’re not wrong that some changes were made but the vast majority of investment isn’t going into sustainable solution. Texas Monthly recently had an interesting write-up about the nuances as to why the power stayed on this year.

              I’m also not sure where you are, but in San Antonio this year, the temperature, precipitation, and duration were all far more forgiving than 2021.

              My concern is that, especially with the Texas grid still being privatized, profits will continue to be prioritized over safety and cold weather will soon not be the only killer.

              • jubejube@lemmus.org
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                14
                ·
                5 months ago

                There is always going to be a risk in extreme weather for power issues. I don’t believe increased government regulation is going to help as they are terrible at doing things efficiently and cost effectively. Texas has some of the cheapest power which is great for those of modest means and it would be a shame to change that for those choosing between a meal or their power bill. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

                • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  5
                  ·
                  5 months ago

                  OK since there’s always a risk, how about we take away your air conditioning. You don’t need it to survive most of the time, so fuck preparing for the rare events, right??

                  Fucking pathetic.

                  • jubejube@lemmus.org
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    arrow-down
                    9
                    ·
                    5 months ago

                    By your methodology, should we also take away seat belts in cars? I maintain my ac so it is always in working order and ready to handle extreme heat. Also a generator on hand to back it up just in case. Not pathetic my friend, just ready.

                • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  9
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  5 months ago

                  Funny. Their electric grid is also ran by corrupt buffoons. Almost like there’s a running theme here, but only one state is proud of that corruption…

                  • jubejube@lemmus.org
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    arrow-down
                    15
                    ·
                    5 months ago

                    Hey person I am against corruption as much as anyone. All human systems are corruptible and we need to be realistic. To think that “they” are being malicious is probably not correct. I don’t think the many thousand of people involved in the power industry laugh about people dying in extreme weather. Nor the ones at the top. They believe a free market for energy has benefits that outweigh the negatives. If anyone has evidence of real corruption I will gladly pick up my pitchfork and join the party. There are bad apples in almost every bunch and should be rooted out.

        • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          24
          ·
          edit-2
          5 months ago

          Your account has only been active on Lemmy for 9 days and every single comment you’ve made has been downvoted into oblivion. Why is that?

              • jubejube@lemmus.org
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                22
                ·
                5 months ago

                Was that your whole comment? What reality am I missing here? I haven’t derided or put down anyone on this site. In fact most people on here seem quite rude. Everyone just gets their undies in a bunch over views that don’t align with theirs.

                • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  10
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  5 months ago

                  “Texas’ power cannot suck; it’s super diverse!” 🤡

                  That you? … yeaaahhh… that’s not living in reality.

                  • jubejube@lemmus.org
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    arrow-down
                    9
                    ·
                    5 months ago

                    I never said it couldn’t suck. It clearly failed in 2021. But to call it a flat out joke is also wrong.

            • Treczoks@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              18
              ·
              5 months ago

              Well, the echo chamber for idiots calls itself X now, so its users have less problems with spelling it.

        • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          5 months ago

          Texas has the most diverse power generation with nat gas AND coal AND solar

          I think I saw that brochure.