When I first moved to Texas and was learning about the political systems and power structures of the Lone Star State, people repeatedly reminded me that the most powerful chair in the state was the one the lieutenant governor sat in on the Senate floor. Endowed with...
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back to archiveTexas Republicans are blaming everything on ERCOT and windmills
On Friday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas finally announced an end to the power outages that left millions of Texas in the cold during this week’s winter snowstorm. The rolling blackouts, ERCOT said, were necessary to prevent Texas’ energy grid from...
We should have seen this coming
The word “unprecedented” gets thrown around a lot these days and it’s tempting to apply it to the winter storm that left millions of Texans without power. However, this disaster wasn’t entirely unprecedented and previous cold snaps and outages should have given Texas...
Ted Cruz says he fled Texas at the request of his daughters
After receiving sharp criticism Wednesday for leaving a chaos-ridden Texas to go on vacation in Cancun, Mexico, Sen. Ted Cruz says the poor optics were just an act of fatherly love. "With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with...
What Texas Republicans said about California’s blackouts
A winter storm has left millions of Texans cold and without power. At the time of this writing, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how and why this happened. That this could happen in the energy capital of America is embarrassing, to say the least....
Musings: Greg Abbott Fails Texas
I’m sure many of you spent some time wondering and researching the latest GOP policy failure to wreak havoc on Texans yesterday as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, badly blundered what were supposed to be rolling or rotating blackouts designed to...
Millions remain without power as Texans brace for more calamity
Across the state, millions of Texans remain without power. The situation is dire in Texas as temperatures plunged below zero in most of the state. Several lawmakers including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner are also demanding answers from the Electrical Reliability...
Afternoon Update: Controlled Blackouts to Continue
As much of Texas remains iced in and without power, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and cities across the state have begun advising consumers currently impacted by power outages that they may remain without power into tonight and potentially...
Musings: What’s a rolling blackout?
Chances are if you’re reading this you may be sitting in your car, engine running and heater blasting, because the winter weather event gripping Texas has led to such overwhelming demand that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which operates the...
Oil and Gaslighting: Texas leaders must acknowledge economic climate change
Texas has been a dominant force in the oil industry for over 100 years, but to remain an energy powerhouse our leaders must prepare us for a future where fossil fuels play a diminishing role. The Biden Administration has already shown its commitment to helping...