We measure ourselves by our reactions in a crisis. Exemplifying 'what not to do', this week's Texas winter weather crisis spotlights three elected officials, at different levels of government.
Straw Man: Invent Another Threat
As the severe storm sends the infrastructure within his state towards failure, Texas Governor Greg Abbott blames 'The Green New Deal':
This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America. Our wind and our solar got shut down, and they were collectively more than 10 percent of our power grid, and that thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power on a statewide basis. … As a result, it just shows that fossil fuel is necessary for the state of Texas as well as other states to make sure we'll be able to heat our homes in the winter time and cool our homes in the summer time.
The idea that these power failures are due to "frozen wind turbines" is completely refuted by the the state's power agency, ERCOT, who blamed most of the outages on the state's natural gas system. ERCOT is a non-profit ISO responsible for power management; regulation of the power grid lies with the PUC of Texas, which is appointed by the Governor – long-term planning was essentially abandoned to 'market forces' during the state's deregulation in the 1990's and early 2000's.
Gov Abbott is now blaming ERCOT and power companies instead of his own party's policies:
The companies that generate the power, their operations have frozen up or have trip-wired and are non-operational. That is the lead reason why there is a shortage of power for the people who are lacking power right now. … But we must also point out that the way that ERCOT has handled this entire situation has been completely unacceptable.
Strong Man: Blame the Victims
Rather than deflect blame, Tim Boyd, Mayor of Colorado City, TX, decides to turn the issue around and blame the people looking for help:
No one owes you are [sic] your family anything, nor is it the local government's responsibility to support you during trying times like this. Sink or swim it's your choice. The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I'm sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout! … If you are sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your [sic] lazy is direct result of your [sic] raising. Only the strong will survive and the weak will parish [sic].
Colorado City is a very small town several hours west of Dallas; it's only Wiki-worthy historical note is the mayor's recent resignation. Following a social and main-stream media backlash, he continues to double-down:
Believe me when I say that many of the things I said were taken out of context and some of which were said without putting much thought in to it. … I was only making the statement that those folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves but are capable should not be dealt a handout.
Travelin' Man: Get Out of Dodge
Sen Ted Cruz, offers yet another option; his idea is to fly off with his family to Cancun, Mexico:
With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon. My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas. We want our power back, our water on, our homes warm. My team and I will continue using all our resources to keep Texas informed and safe.
I'm not sure it's helpful that conservative media is getting behind the Senator – for example, Dinesh D'Souza:
What could [Ted Cruz] do if he were here in Texas? I’m hard-pressed to say. If he’s in Cancun, that means he’s not using up valuable resources of energy, food and water that can now be used by someone else. This is probably the best thing he could do for the state right now.
Right, what could a Senator do for his state during a regional emergency? Why elect anybody to do anything? The answer to D'Souza's question might come from Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who helped raise over a million dollars to provide relief in Texas (she represents Brooklyn); or Beto O'Rourke, who organized a phone bank to check-in on nearly eight hundred thousand seniors (he does not currently hold elected office). Meanwhile, Sen Cruz rationalizes:
I understand why people are upset. My intention was to take care of my family.
If you vote for 'limited government', you might not be surprised if your governor, mayor, or senator is unable to help you when there's a real crisis: no power, no heat, no water, three dozen deaths, broken pipes, widespread property damage. But, you should to be desperately disappointed if your elected leader turns out to be callous, abusive, or cynical – a liar, a brute, or a coward.
Our thoughts are with all those dealing with the aftermath of these storms.
On Wednesday, the US passed half a million total deaths due to COVID-19. The world-wide death total holds just below two and a half million; the US accounts for more than twenty percent.
Portugal's daily death total is in the sixties (67) for the first time since New Year's Day (66). Portugal's seven-day average for COVID-19 cases (1,935.1) is below two thousand for the first time since October 18th (1,901.9). The seven-day average has shot from below three thousand (2,920.1) on December 28th, to nearly thirteen thousand (12,890.6) on January 28th, to today. To illustrate this drop, I stitched together the graphs since my last post on February 10th – so the last ten days.
Yesterday, Portugal's seven-day average for covid-19 deaths (124.1) fell below Georgia's (127.1) as well, for the first time since late October. Today, that average is lower still (112.4); it was nearly three hundred on the first of the month (290.9).
cases: 111,095,358 global • 28,576,763 USA • 794,769 Portugal
deaths: 2,458,686 global • 506,750 USA • 15,821 Portugal
No comments:
Post a Comment