The enormous energy crisis that exists stunning Texas Since the state was hit by a record cold snap now threatening some of its most vulnerable residents, and at least two hospitals in the Austin metro area were evacuated Wednesday night due to lack of hot water and heat.
Matt Largey, an editor at Austin’s NPR station KUT, tweeted a statement from St. David’s South Austin Medical Center on Wednesday confirming that the hospital was in the process of evacuating some of its “just under 300 patients” from the facility after it “lost water pressure from the city of Austin today “.
“Water feeds the facility’s boiler, and as a result it also loses heat,” the statement read. The publication notes that hospital staff were working with city officials to transport the neediest patients to other hospitals in the area with available capacity, as well as to get water trucks and portable toilets on site for the workers and patients. who would stay.
Minutes later, Largey reported that Dell Children’s Medical Center, a children’s hospital in Austin, also had no power. In an accompanying statement from the hospital, sent from a source, officials confirmed that “extreme weather events” had caused the facility to experience “disruptions in service,” noting that toilets there currently had no “flushing capabilities.”
The rolling blackouts that are taking place in Texas are the result of one load on the existing power supply caused by thousands of state residents rushing to turn on their heating in one go. But they are also the result of – surprise! – corporate falsehood and decades of negligence and oversight by the right-wing state government.
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While Texas residents are stuck at home with the effects of ice storms, widespread power outages, and aquariums and toilets which have literally been frozen has been Governor Greg Abbott of Texas make the rounds on Fox News, which blames renewables such as solar and wind for the power outages. In a blog posted on The website of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, recently insinuated that the situation was an opportunity for Texans to get tough and make a sacrifice to prevent the Left from taking an “opportunity to push their radical proposals from above. expand. “
“Texans would be without electricity for more than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,” Perry wrote. “Whatever the crisis of the day, try not to take your eyes off a resilient network that keeps America personally, economically and strategically safe.”
As millions of Texans freeze, the GOP is using this moment to show off their commitment to ignoring the climate disaster that is no longer just outside their door, but in their living rooms, heating up a bowl of chili and getting ready to watch the Longhorns game .
It’s a commitment to the lobby for fossil fuels not only is it ignorant, it is malicious – and it will one day spell disaster for all of us.