Each kilowatt-hour of electricity rises to 9 dollars! People burn ice, snow and water with sky-high electricity prices, Texas weather disaster exposes US political and social weakness
[Global Times reporter Lin Rirenzhong] US President Biden approved Texas to enter a state of major disaster on the 20th. The federal government will provide federal funds to the 77 severely affected counties. Texas Governor Abbott immediately "thanks Biden The President’s assistance", and requested the federal government to cover all 254 counties in Texas.
US media predicts that this may be the "most expensive weather event" in Texas history.
The good news is that the Texas government has authorized plumbing apprentices to be temporarily employed to respond urgently to the broken plumbing problem faced by nearly half of the households in this state, and to pay overtime for meat inspectors who work overnight to ensure sufficient meat products to Texas citizens. ; The bad news is that the households that have just restored the electricity supply have received huge electricity bills-the wholesale price of each kilowatt-hour in Texas has soared from the previous 2 cents to 9 US dollars!
When the disaster came, Texas Republican Senator Cruz, who took his wife and daughter to Mexico’s high-end hotel for vacation, has hurriedly returned to China under the pressure of strong public opinion, and this continuing Texas weather disaster continues to expose American politics and politics. Various weaknesses in society.
The disaster area is still bad
According to the Associated Press, temperatures in most parts of Texas rose to between 4 degrees Celsius and 10 degrees Celsius on the 20th after a week of severe cold weather killed at least 69 people.
The power outage situation has also improved significantly. According to data released by a website that summarizes the power outages in the United States, as of the afternoon of the 20th local time, the number of households and businesses in Texas still experiencing power outages has decreased to nearly 58,000.
The Texas Power Reliability Commission, which operates the Texas power grid, said on the 19th that operations have returned to normal and people are no longer required to save energy.
However, the "Dallas Morning News" disclosed on the 20th that electricity is indeed recovering, but household heads are beginning to receive huge electricity bills. As the state's wholesale price per kilowatt-hour jumped from 2 cents to 9 US dollars, many households were short. The electricity bill in a few days is as high as $5,000!
Governor Abbott said that such a soaring energy cost is "unacceptable" and is seeking a "solution".
"Austin Energy", a major Texas utility company, explained in a statement on the increase in electricity prices: "The company will not receive any economic benefits from this winter storm."
Worse than electricity is the water supply.
"Washington Post" reported on the 21st that due to the freezing of the water supply system, about half of the population of Texas (14 million) currently face water supply problems, because nearly half of the water supply system is dealing with frozen or broken pipes.
Without running water, some residents can only boil snow water for drinking.
Despite the temperature rise in these two weathers, the Bureau of Meteorology warned that there will still be blizzards in the eastern United States, and there will be heavy snow, freezing rain and freezing weather in the future, and there may be power outages again.
The New York Times reported that shortages of water and electricity and broken pipelines also put the hospital in trouble. At a medical center in Abilene, Texas, a man died because he could not receive dialysis treatment.
Dialysis requires a lot of filtered water, electricity and heat.
After a few days of lack of water and electricity, many Texas families are facing a food shortage crisis because the food in the refrigerator has rotted and the supermarket has not yet opened.
There are long lines outside the "food banks" in many parts of Texas.
"In the absence of water and electricity for a few days, Texans felt they were abandoned by the government." The Wall Street Journal reported that they were puzzled by why the rescue did not arrive earlier.
Local officials explained that icy roads hinder the delivery of supplies and the entire state needs assistance, which makes the distribution of relief supplies slower and more complicated than in local areas when disasters occur.
Biden plans to go to Texas this week
The White House said on the 20th that Biden approved a statement on the existence of a major disaster in Texas on the same day and will provide federal assistance to the severely affected cities and counties.
The federal government will provide federal funds to the 77 affected counties, including possible provision of temporary housing and housing repair funds, low-cost loans for uninsured damaged properties, and other programs to help individuals and businesses recover from the disaster recovery.
Biden plans to visit Texas this week to assess the level of federal government support.
The President stated that he will make a final decision after ensuring that his presence "will not burden emergency responders."
Abbott said on the 20th that "declaring a major disaster statement is an important first step" and "we hope all 254 counties will join in."
"Washington Post" commented on the 21st that Biden's "low-key response" to the blizzard was mixed.
"He has not yet visited the disaster-stricken area, nor has he spoken during prime time; in a recent interview, he did not mention the disaster; in addition, he deliberately avoided the debate about whether the large-scale blackout should be attributed to wind energy or fossil fuels. ".
The commentary said that this is obviously different from Trump, who often uses natural disasters to attack political opponents.
Although Biden has won praise for his quieter and more pragmatic approach, he also took the risk that "he and the federal government may appear to be almost non-existent in disaster relief."
Texas Democrat Allred said that in addition to federal relief funds, what can inspire confidence in the people is that Biden can personally inspect the disaster area and "speak to the disaster-stricken people in Texas."
Montano, an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told the Washington Post that the Biden team showed a lack of emergency management expertise and showed no sense of urgency in responding to the disaster.
The embarrassing "Cancun One Night Tour"
During the snowstorm in Texas, Republican Senator Cruz was severely criticized for leaving Houston and his family for vacation in Mexico, although Cruz stayed in Cancun for just one night before returning to the United States.
But public opinion did not let go of the siege of him, from the high-end hotel he booked for more than 300 dollars a night to his pale justification of "wanting to be a good father".
Cruz’s Texas neighbors took a picture of their family’s pet dog “watching” behind the glass door when their family left their home for vacation. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted: “Don’t vote for those who can’t even have dogs. Entrusted to the caregiver."
The Washington Post said on the 21st that Cruz's overnight trip to Cancun was a "disastrous decision" that embarrassed him for life.
This short trip allowed him to earn the nicknames "Cancun Cruz" and "Ted the Runaway" on social media. People also said that Cruz had criticized his colleagues for vacationing during the crisis, and now he himself can't avoid it. hypocritical.
"Texas Tribune" stated on the 20th that the failure of the Texas government in the face of winter storms is unacceptable to Texas people and may cause lasting damage to the state's reputation.
This may leave lasting scars on the "exceptionalism" that Texas political and business leaders like to boast.
In the past four or five days, as the state has become an object of international sympathy, the effects of years of economic development initiatives, corporate relocation efforts and tourism promotion may be in vain.
No one takes responsibility
Yahoo News reported on the 20th that Texas was in chaos, but no one was responsible.
Local and federal leaders have confused and frustrated many Texans because they are unwilling to take responsibility for the crisis.
Governor Abbott accused the Electric Reliability Commission of "not reliable at all."
He argued that the fiasco was caused by green energy, especially the failure of wind turbines in freezing conditions.
British "The Economist" said on the 20th that the infrastructure in Texas has collapsed.
It's not like Texas has "too much renewable energy" as some people say.
Gas power plants, nuclear reactors, and wind turbines were all hit by the blizzard.
To make matters worse, the terrible power grid in Texas cannot get electricity from other places.
This shows that the United States needs a cleaner power grid and a more reliable power grid.
CNN said on the 20th that the tragedy caused by the historic extreme weather in Texas has made people angry. It is not yet known what impact the disaster in Texas will have on the political careers of Cruz and Abbott.
Former New York Mayor Bloomberg's approval rating plummeted due to the 2010 winter blizzard and New York power outages when he was on vacation like Cruz.
But after the blizzard, Bloomberg's approval rating rebounded.
Trump’s handling of Hurricane Maria was much worse, and voters’ views of Trump hardly changed because of this.
Therefore, the decline in support among Texas politicians is likely to be short-lived.
Abbott's term is until 2022, and Cruz's term is until 2024.
Their approval rating still has a chance to rise. After all, this is a "Republican state." Since 1994, no Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas.