Perhaps We Should Think Twice

 Last week I nestled into my rocker next to the wood stove to read Bill Gates new book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster”. If you want the high up and low down about climate change solutions here is a book by a man of science, business, and integrity. After a few hours of reading, I opted to take a break and call a friend.

When we started catching up, he told me the wind turbines in Texas were not working because it was too cold and Texas had lost power. Since my friend’s pipeline of information includes Fox News, I knew his news pipeline is as reliable as a frozen Houston waterline.

To keep it short, I adhere to the old saying our generation seems to have discarded. My Dad used to caution me as I was about to screw up, “Perhaps you should think twice about that.”, he would say.

After my phone call, I tried to return to Bill Gates. My curiosity about Texas wind turbines got the best of me and with misgivings I turned on the computer. Yep, the Fox Talking (Oil-Well) Heads and the Texas Fossil Fuel Funded Republicans were bullwhipping up a line claiming the Texas winter Armageddon was caused by a renewable energy failure. There were even inferences Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (AOC) and a Green New Deal were responsible. A picture was posted of a helicopter purportedly spraying anti-icing chemicals on a Texas Turbine, claiming the wonderful chemicals of fossil fuels were saving the day.

How does all this snake oil shake out? Does anyone else use wind power when it is cold? Perhaps the Norwegians? Maybe the Swedes, the Danes, the Germans, the Japanese, the English,  the Minnesotans, Michiganders, Canadians and Iowans? All these people miraculously and successfully use wind turbines on a regular basis in a season called winter. Many are stampeding to buy more. Scientists are safely using them in Antarctica.

What happened to the turbines in Texas? Here is what Wikipedia says, “Although some wind turbines iced up, wind power produced more overall power than expected for this time of year.”   Wind turbines work in the winter if properly maintained. Since Texas Wind Turbine power production exceeded planned power delivery, they must have done at least OK.

How AOC got roped up in the conversation is beyond me. Historically and uniquely Texas decided to go it alone in the electrical grid business.  In 1970 the state formed the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, (ERCOT). Texas decided to remain independent of the United States interlocking/interdependent electric power system overseen by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. This separation could be seen as good old Texas independent spirit, or an inability to play well with neighbors, or simply a rejection of national supervision.

Whatever the reason, Texas runs independent of the other United States grids. It’s dominant source of electrical power is natural gas. I do not think AOC had anything to do with these decisions. She was born in 1989. Additionally, there was no Green New Deal then. There is none now.

And what about the helicopter dropping fossil fuel chemicals on the beleaguered Texas wind turbine? The picture was taken in Sweden in 2015 of a Swedish Helicopter doing a demonstration flight deicing a Swedish Wind Turbine with hot water.

It seems the problem in the Texas energy grid has little to do with the source of energy, (gas, coal, nuclear, or renewables). Either ERCOT forgot to plan for winter, or the energy suppliers to ERCOT were too cheap to winterize their natural gas delivery systems. The natural gas delivery system, the system most relied upon by Texans, is the one which spectacularly failed the worst. 

The cold Texas winter of 2011 should have been a wake-up call. Climate scientists have long warned rapid heating of the arctic will continue to destabilize the jet stream allowing sub-zero air to escape the polar corral and bolt south. Here it is in Wikipedia:

“Climate scientists have hypothesized the jet stream will gradually weaken as a result of global warming. Trends such as Arctic sea ice decline, reduced snow cover, evapotranspiration patterns, and other weather anomalies have caused the Arctic to heat up faster than other parts of the globe (polar amplification). This in turn reduces the temperature gradient that drives jet stream winds, which may eventually cause the jet stream to become weaker and more variable in its course. As a consequence, extreme winter weather is expected to become more frequent. With a weaker jet stream, the Polar vortex has a higher probability to leak out of the polar area and bring extremely cold weather to the middle latitude regions.”

Texas just experienced a pretty big leak.

In defense of ERCOT what do you do to protect Texans without spending Big Bucks? On average, old man winter gets on his steed and gallops down from the poles only once every ten years to turn Texas into frozen tundra. The threat of hurricanes and killer heat waves, the primary threats pumped up by fossil fuel greenhouse gasses, happen every summer and are growing every minute. When planning for the summer onslaught of extreme heat and weather we might forgive planners if expensive winterization efforts slide. If you are a grid engineer on a tight budget how are you going to keep all those air conditioners running when the summer killer heat strikes?

In this tragic mess why are Republican politicians, Fox News talking well-heads, and the Wall Street Journal writers feeding us a line of bull? That’s easy. The people who fill Fido’s dog bowl are the fossil fuel companies.

But the bigger question is why do so many people fall for lies?

What has happened in America? Scientists have long believed people will eventually choose truth over lies.  But today it is documented BIG lies travel six times faster than the truth. We continue to fall for the snake oil con man while turning away from the straight-shooting scientist.

Thinking twice has been around ever since man started to build things.  The first rule of carpentry, one to avoid stupid mistakes, is to, “Measure twice, cut once”.  Can we adapt this to our thought process? Before pressing “Like” or forwarding a unsubstantiated message can we think twice? Or, if not sure, can we simply refrain from saying anything? Later can we go to the Associated Press fact checker, or Snopes, or Politico, or Factcheck.com, or do our own research via reputable sources?

And to all you Texans:

Here is a burr under my saddle that has been there since 1973. A burr we Northerners have not forgotten. In 1973 there were plenty of bumper stickers on Texas Cadillacs which said, “Drive fast, let the Yankee Bastards Freeze in the Dark”. I wonder if anyone is thinking twice about that today? Northerners know what it is like to be cold. We know cold hurts like hell.  Most of us up here have frozen an appendage one time or another. We wish no one a cold night without lights. It is how we ride.

We concede Texas is the biggest in many areas. Unfortunately, you have big droughts, big hurricanes, big floods, and now big power outages. On the other side of the coin, you have wide open spaces with lots of sun and strong steady winds.

You lead the country in energy and most importantly energy powered by wind.  Your wind turbines are one of the critical BIG Silver Bullets needed to kill climate change. Keep thinking Big. Continue to be a leader.

Here are a couple things we, and especially Texans, might think about. There are huge profit opportunities hog-tying climate change.

1.)             You have an incredible amount of hot blowing air. I am not talking about your politicians. Texas solar and wind energy potential is immense.

2.)    When the new continental high-tech electric power grid is built, we Northerners just might like to buy a wagon load of Texas electrons. We have been buying your gas for decades. Now we are chomping at the bit to switch to clean modern renewable energy. You might consider pardnering up with us Yankee Bastards.

3.)    When anyone, especially our politicians, try to tell us modern renewable energy is a problem we might, “THINK TWICE ABOUT THAT.” 

So Texans, and everybody else; Let’s saddle up and ride this new electro-horse to full employment, honest profits and a bright new future.  Hi HO Silver all the way to the bank.