climate science – Voices of Austin @CCLATX

Re: Sept. 12 article, “Texans pay millions for units that can restart power grid, but some went out during freeze.”

I am thankful that a total shutdown of the state’s power grid was averted. But it is deeply disturbing to find out that the ‘black start’ power plants were not fully prepared to back up the grid.

The Texas Legislature passed several laws during the 2021 regular session to address shortcomings at the power plants. The Public Utility Commission has to act in the best interest of all Texans and demand reliable weatherization standards for power plants, including the black start plants, from the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas, incorporating future scientific projections on climate change. ERCOT is neither transparent nor responsible. Is the Legislature going to impose penalties if power outages occur?

Power politics plays out.

Texas Legislature can help its people by saving lives and billions of dollars in economic damages by listening to climate scientists and have a reliable power grid.

Kalpana Sutaria

Austin American-Statesman

September 22, 2021

Despite the President’s claim that COVID-19 will disappear, scientists are quite clear that it is worsening. If only we had listened to the experts, we could have prevented such loss of life, financial destruction and the world’s disbelief that America could no longer lead. This situation is about to repeat itself. Our next pandemic is climate change.

Scientists warned us in the ’80s that if we didn’t act, the cost, loss of life and the future of our planet would be in danger. We are now seeing that these predictions are coming true.

September was the hottest month recorded since temperature tracking began. Today, there are weather extremes around our planet. We have seen this movie before and it does not end well. We may find a cure for the virus, but there is no vaccine for climate change.

We must act now for our children and grandchildren.

Dale Bulla

Austin American-Statesman

November 3, 2020