Texans are struggling with climate PTSD after last week’s freeze as Big Oil maintains its grip on state politicians.
The fact that the political climate in Texas remains so captured by oil and gas that a single billion-dollar company can hold 400,000 Texans’ power hostage is why it’s so important, as Texas Sierra Club’s Cortez puts it, to continue building mass political power from below.
“Almost a full year after Winter Storm Uri, the Texas energy grid is just as vulnerable to collapse. The commissioners, whose campaign coffers are filled by the rich executives they regulate, are to blame for the fear and anger millions of Texans feel,” he said.Still, Cortez and Webber agree that candidates, legislators, and advocates need to push beyond the most obvious fixes to the state grid, emphasizing demand-side solutions such as energy efficiency and stricter building codes.
State lawmakers have also largely skirted the issue of ERCOT’s isolated structure — the fact that Texas is its own, separate power grid. In addition to winterizing the state’s power supply, Webber argues it’s essential that ERCOT be connected with the country’s two other national grids, the Western Interconnection and the Eastern Interconnection, which would allow the state to import power during extreme weather events to shore up its supply.
The renewable sector’s performance during last week’s freeze may prove his point. Wind power far exceeded ERCOT’s forecast during the freeze, at times providingof all the power Texans used last week — more than making up for the losses it experienced last year.
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