The climate is changing, why aren't we?

What’s happening in Texas is a man-made disaster in every way. It is the culmination of a fossil-fueled winter storm, privatized, profit hungry energy systems and mass housing insecurity during a global pandemic. And all of it falls disproportionately on BIPOC, disabled folks and working class people.

While Mother Earth continues to sound the alarm, we refuse to hear. The climate is changing. Why aren’t we?

As long as we put profits over people, we will continue to devastate our planet and ensure our extinction. Surviving this moment demands that we reckon with the unnatural forces that got us here, that we challenge capitalism and that we build life-affirming systems that take care of everyone.

Whatever we are not changing, we are choosing. We must choose something different - before it is too late.

Kerri (she/her)

1. Stop looking for something or someone else to blame for cold, dark days. Texas shows what happens when we ignore climate change. [click to tweet]

2. Republicans Have Emerged From The Capitol Insurrection United Against Democracy. What’s leftover from Trump’s legacy. [click to tweet]

3. Liberation won’t come at the hands of politicians who benefit from the maintenance of oppressive structures. Four organizers tell us how we can push beyond electoral politics. [click to tweet]

4. What racism costs all Americans. Heather McGhee and Ezra Klein discuss the terrible price of drained pool politics. [click to tweet]

5. Have you ever tried to fix an ongoing lack of energy by getting more sleep — only to do so and still feel exhausted? Here are the 7 types of rest every person needs. [click to tweet]

Here’s some resources for how to help and what to do during Texas’ historic freeze.

Mutual Aid: Community led mutual aid efforts are doing more to help people stay safe and healthy during this crisis than any politicians or policy. Heres’s a growing list of real time resources by country from @MoveTexasAid

Housing: Support Texas organizations that are supporting unhoused people around the state.

Donate to local organizations: Our friends at Sunrise Movement are fundraising for Feed the People, Dallas Stops Evictions and Cooperation Denton. Donate @SunriseDallas

Power to the people: Everyone deserves clean, democratically controlled utility systems that serve the people and planet (not profits). Learn more about how you can be a part of the movement to democratize energy.

For all my non-Texan friends who are seeing the State of Emergency declared in Texas and have no idea what the hell is going on, here ya go:

1. In the 1930s when FDR's infrastructure package was connecting all the power across the country, making 2 grids- the Eastern and the Western that share power throughout their section of the country, Texas said FU we're TEXAS! And built their own damn grid. Seriously.

2. In the late 90s Republican lead Texas said Yee-Haw! We're deregulating everything! Markets fix everything, we don't need no stinking government oversight!

3. Texas hit record cold temperatures. Privately owned power plants never spent the money to invest in winterizing their equipment. The plants that provide us power from natural gas and coal froze. We have raw product, we just can't process it into usable energy and send it out.

4. To prevent the entire state from being without power, they said they would do "rolling blackouts". They didn't roll.

5. Millions of people have been without power for 24-36 hours. Their houses are 30-40 degrees inside. They do not have large fireplaces meant to heat a home, insulation for winter, or proper winter coats.

6. Freezing without power has led to homeowners having tens of thousands of dollars of damage in frozen/broken pipes and pool equipment. In addition frozen pipes mean NO WATER.

7. Some water processing plants in Ft Worth lost power meaning 7 TX cities are under BOIL YOUR WATER restrictions- with no power!!!

8. People are braving the pandemic to huddle at shelters and "warming centers", because they just can't take it anymore.

9. Also, where the grids were functioning as they should, ERCOT cut power because of spot market prices - they were losing money because demand was so high at the current price point. Once they were given emergency permission to charge consumers the spot market price (which is going to translate to enormous electric and gas bills yall) they turned it back on.

Meanwhile, El Paso TX is not on the Texas grid; they are on the Western grid. El Paso has power. Houston, TX however, is almost complete.

Content/Image @Jenn_Alva

The WE in well must expand beyond the human to include all life and affirm our interdependence with all things. WE can do better.

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