Texas – Page 3 – Desdemona Despair

August 5, 2023

Texans die from heat after GOP Governor bans mandatory water breaks – “Houston will fight so its residents retain their constitutional rights and have immediate local recourse to government”

By Steven Monacelli 6 July 2023 (Texas Observer) – As a part of a bill critics have dubbed the “Death Star” bill—an expansive law that preempts legislation in eight key areas of local government—the Legislature has overridden local ordinances that require giving workers water breaks. Otherwise known as House Bill 2127, it was signed into […]

Map showing OSHA reported heat deaths per 1 million workers in the U.S., 2017-2022. Oklahoma and Arkansas had the highest death rates, at 2.26 / million and 2.1 / million, respectively. Data: OSHA / Census Bureau / Bloomberg Law. Graphic: Jacob Bogage and Eli Tan / The Washington Post

July 15, 2023

Forcing people to work in deadly heat is mostly legal in the U.S. – As the planet records some of its highest average temperatures, workers have barely any legal protections from extreme heat – “They send us with two bottles of water, and that’s it”

By Jacob Bogage and Eli Tan 14 July 2023 (The Washington Post) – The pain usually starts for Karla Perez when the temperature reaches 100 degrees. “When it’s too hot, I feel like vomiting,” said Perez, who has worked landscaping and construction jobs in the Dallas area for the last decade. “My legs are shaking. […]

Heat index forecast for the United States, 3 July 2023 - 8 July 2023. An estimated 76 million people in the U.S. were exposed to dangerous heat on 2 July 2023. Graphic: The Washington Post

July 2, 2023

Summer in the Southern U.S. is becoming unbearable – “This is how it’s going to be: Things will get hotter, storms will get worse, wildfire smoke will get more common. All the while, the ruts of inequity will be worn deeper, the same people time and time again placed on the front lines of catastrophe.”

By Olivia Paschal 1 July 2023 (The Atlantic) – A few weeks ago, as the first wave of smoke from the Canadian wildfires rolled south, I was getting ready to drive from Charlottesville, Virginia, about 18 hours west to my hometown of Rogers, Arkansas, to visit family. I figured that by the time I hit […]

A car moves through a neighborhood in West Austin that lost power on 18 February 2021 during blackouts that left millions of Texans without power or heat following a devastating winter storm. Photo: Jordan Vonderhaar / The Texas Tribune

July 2, 2023

Texas power struggle: How the top wind power state in the U.S. turned against renewable energy – State lawmakers push bills to support fossil fuel-burning power plants and restrict renewable energy development – “Right now, the wind blows strongly against renewables, and that’s where we are”

By Emily Foxhall, Kai Elwood-dieu, and Zach Despart 25 May 2023 (Texas Tribune) – State Rep. Jared Patterson disagreed with his Republican colleague that Texas should keep supporting the booming renewable energy industry here. Rep. John Smithee was arguing on the House floor in early May that certain solar and wind farms should be eligible […]

A man carries his mother as he arrives at an emergency ward at a hospital in Ballia District in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, 21 June 2023. Photo: Adnan Abidi / REUTERS

July 2, 2023

Climate nears point of no return as land, sea temperatures break records, experts say – “We’ve run out of time because change takes time”

By David Stanway 30 June 2023 SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) is moving out of reach, climate experts say, with nations failing to set more ambitious goals despite months of record-breaking heat on land and sea. As envoys gathered in Bonn in early June […]

Map showing the heat index in the United States for 30 June 2023. Graphic: The Washington Post

June 30, 2023

Solar power bails out Texas grid during major heat wave – “This is what’s happening with 1 degree Celsius of global average warming. And we’re on track for 3 degrees.”

30 June 2023 (Reuters) – The Texas power grid comfortably met record demand during this week’s heat wave with abundant power supply from wind and solar plants, data from the grid operator showed. The Texas grid is a focus in the United States whenever it is tested by extreme weather after a catastrophic failure in […]

On 27 June 2023, Texas once again braced for a record spike in electricity demand as 110F heat spurred air-conditioning usage. An early heat wave gripped the second most-populous US state, buckling highways, stressing oil refineries and pushing up natural gas prices. At least two deaths were attributed to the searing temperatures and it was only expected to get hotter as the week wears on. It was not a new problem for Texas: The Lone Star State broke power-demand records 11 times in the summer of 2022. Graphic: Bloomberg

June 27, 2023

Texas power demand again forecast to peak amid Summer 2023 heat wave – “Texas is running about 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it did during the 20th century”

26 June 2023 (Reuters) – Texas’ power grid operator on Monday again projected electricity use would break records this week as homes and business cranked up air conditioning amid soaring temperatures. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the grid for more than 26 million customers representing about 90% of the state’s power […]

Average age at death in U.S. counties, 2020. Data: CDC Death Records. The U.S. is experiencing the greatest gap in life expectancy across regions in the last 40 years. Americans born in certain areas of Mississippi and Florida may die 20 years younger than their peers born in parts of Colorado and California. Graphic: Jeremy Ney / American Inequality

April 15, 2023

Americans are dying younger, and where you live makes a big difference – Americans born in Mississippi and Florida may die 20 years younger than their peers born in Colorado and California

By Jeremy Ney 12 April 2023 (TIME) – The average U.S. life expectancy has hit its worst decline in 100 years and America’s standing is dismal among peer nations. But the average obscures a more complex story. The United States is facing the greatest divide in life expectancy across regions in the last 40 years. Research from American […]

Map showing global climate risk as an Aggregated Damage Ratio, projected to the year 2050. Graphic: XDI

February 28, 2023

Florida’s projected sea level rise by 2100 is bad news for sunshine state – Outside of China, Florida is the most at-risk state/province in the world for economic damage caused by climate change

By Pandora Dewan 24 February 2023 (Newsweek) – By 2100, Florida could see sea levels rise by up to 6 feet, with over 900,000 properties at risk of being underwater. “By 2050, Florida sea levels, like much of the US, are headed for a 1-foot rise on average (above 2020 levels),” William Sweet, an Oceanographer for the […]

Aerial view of a structure burning during a wildfire in Palo Pinto County, Texas on Monday, 18 July 2022. The 110-degree heat wave caused a record 24 wildfires in Texas this week. Two Texas wildfires consumed at least 21 homes amid the record heat wave. Photo: KDFW FOX 4 / AP

July 21, 2022

U.S. Central states, Texas break power use records again in heat wave – Texas Gov. Abbott’s inaction leads to huge electricity bills

20 July 2022 (Reuters) – Power use in Texas and other central states hit all-time highs Tuesday and could break that record again in Texas on Wednesday as homes and businesses crank up air conditioners to escape a brutal heat wave blanketing most of the country. Electric grid operators across the country said they have […]