US Declares Texas Grid Emergency in Arctic Blast

32°F is not all that cold, but below 0, that represents a warning that it’s dangerous to go outside without proper cold weather protection.

It was -4 F on my drive in to work Tuesday, which is well below average temperatures here, but not particularly notable.

(I realize that in this case the other poster changed their phrasing)

In the southern states, the terminology is much more loose. "Freezing" just means "below 55F". "Below zero" can mean anything under 32F, it's very ambiguous (some use this correctly, some do not). Usually if it's actually below freezing, people will be very excitedly telling you about the frost they saw on the grass in the morning!

Northern states differentiate between ("below zero" / "negative temperatures") vs. "below freezing". Actually some northern states often omit the "below" in "below freezing" and just say "it's freezing" and people will correct you if its 35F and you use "its freezing outside" to colloquially mean that you personally feel its very cold outside: "It's above freezing actually, not much ice to worry about."

In the northern states, if it's -40F outside people's eyes will turn into daggers as they tell you, "It's dangerously cold outside right now. Are you sure you need to go out? Take this extra clothing/blanket/etc. Is your cell phone charged? Will your car have trouble making it? I can drive you."

Zero degrees Celsius is no big deal. I do long walks with my dogs out in it regularly, and often don't even wear a hat or gloves. Zero degrees Fahrenheit can be dangerous and I try not to be out in it long.

It got down to -33 degrees F after wind chill yesterday. That might be the coldest temperature I remember experiencing around here. Except for a couple brief moments herding one of my dogs back inside since he stupidly takes his time out there even in this cold until his paws get too cold, I didn't go out in it at all.

Texas hasn't been shutting down power plants while subsidizing less capable replacements and outlawing non-electric alternatives.

Texas governor also hasnt warned people not to charge their state subsidized electric cars...

Note: Not a Texan so I reserve the right to hold both states in contempt.

The main reason is that, in imitation of California, they made an energy market where you can charge more for power during peak times, which means that solar or wind that doesn't always produce, but when it does is often during peak summertime usage, can be a lot more economically competitive. They are able to make up (economically) for the times when they aren't producing, during the peak usage price spikes. Texas doesn't brag as much about using renewables, and certainly would never admit to imitating California, but there it is.

Unfortunately, solar and wind don't always produce during winter peak usage, so when it happens, we cross our fingers. But I think Texas is doing a lot better than two years ago.

Unless your vehicle is all electric and lost capacity in the cold :-)

(They should be hybrid for emergencies even if refilling the gas tank becomes akin to draining the oil on a maintenance checklist for the next decade or two.)

Enron happened so long ago folks who couldn't vote then are now in their mid 30s. We did not choose to be born, and you do not choose how we parse the reality created when previous generations seized power. A contact once chastised me she doesn't hate Cuba, she hates Castro... I suspect if you replace Cuba with Texas and Castro with Cruz, a similar sentiment permeates the Lone Star State.

I'm just one guy, and I can only speak for myself, but from my perspective as a Pennsylvanian who's voted in every presidential election I've been eligible as boomers and bitcoin boys bleat about how I'm lazy and ignorant when they only hear what they want lest they have a violent meltdown, Texas maintained it's own grid to make succession easier, thumbed it's nose at the feds, turned it's back on science, and that's the... reason... that Texans will be having a situation like this every year.

Make no mistake: Due to climate change, events that used to come once a decade will plunge Texans into cold and darkness on the regular, since it turns out something and large and complex a system as a power grid is hard to maintain, especially as you experience brain drain due to a persistent lack of respect for basic democratic norms.

This comment thread is not about singling any individual... state... out. It is about painting a vivid picture that if you repeatedly and violently insist that things been done a certain way in contravention of all reason, then will you notice you got exactly what you asked for and be given no choice but to submit to what you opted in to as those who made better decisions under uncertainly literally laugh out loud that you thought this moment would be any other way.

(Or to put it simply: as they say in Appalachia: fuck around... find out.)