Politics & Policy
April 9, 2024
More Laws Texas’s Junior Senator Might Write to Favor Himself
Everyone hates dealing with airport security. Ted Cruz has a solution that would benefit Ted Cruz and very few others.
Blackouts
Energy
September 8, 2023
Texas Paid a Bitcoin Miner $31.7 Million to Use Less Electricity During the State’s Hottest Month
Paying Bitcoin companies to turn off their energy-gobbling computers is apparently our best plan to keep the power on for the rest of us.
Politics & Policy
February 8, 2023
We Texans Are on Our Own When Disasters Hit
Austin’s response to last week’s mild freeze is further evidence that some of the structures of society we used to count on are no longer reliable.
Film & TV
February 2, 2022
‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ Turns the Texas Ice Storm Into Cold Exploitation
The Austin-set firefighter show devotes four episodes to the 2021 freeze while ignoring all of the real-life drama.
Energy
February 1, 2022
It’s February. A Freeze Is Coming. Will the Texas Grid Fail Again?
State leaders did little to prevent future blackouts, but ERCOT should have the electric supply to meet skyrocketing demand this week—so long as there are no major system failures.
Energy
January 18, 2022
The Texas Electric Grid Failure Was a Warm-up
One year after the deadly blackout, Texas officials have done little to prevent the next one—which could be far worse.
News & Politics
March 31, 2021
Were the Texas Blackouts a Crime?
The February power outages were a deadly man-made disaster, but punishing those responsible may prove elusive.