2021.02.25
Texas power failures, ditching Facebook, architectural progress, Alaskan design, our universe
Power failure: “As millions of Texans endured days without power and water, experts and news organizations pointed to unheeded warnings in a federal report that examined the 2011 winter storm and offered recommendations for preventing future problems,” writes the Texas Tribune and ProPublica in an article that looks at the extraordinary deference energy companies receive from state regulators. The 2011 report and another federal report released three years later largely fell of deaf ears. While deregulation is blamed by “some experts who say the catastrophe shows that the system ultimately prizes profits over people,” some of those who had a hand in designing the system — like former Energy Secretary Rick Perry — remain loyal to their industries.
“Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,” said Perry, who was governor from 2000-15 and presided over the early days of energy deregulation in Texas. “Try not to let whatever the crisis of the day is take your eye off of having a resilient grid that keeps America safe personally, economically, and strategically.”
The article notes that Perry, who was rehired by Energy Transfer LP after serving as energy secretary, received “at least $141,000 in campaign contributions from Luminant’s former parent company, TXU Corp., between 2002 and 2009, when he was governor.”
Yet Perry’s premise is flawed. The Wall Street Journal analyzed data from the federal Energy Information Administration and found that — contrary to its stated goals — deregulation meant that “Texas residential consumers paid $28 billion more for their power since 2004 than they would have paid at the rates charged to the customers of the state’s traditional utilities.”
Meanwhile, this heartbreaking Twitter thread shares some of the human costs of such prioritization of profit over all else:
Who needs it? New Zealand’s largest news website ceased all advertising on Facebook in March 2019, walking away from its 1 million followers, and saw no decline in web traffic. “We were prepared for a drop in our audience but it had zero effect,” Sinead Boucher, CEO of Stuff told the Reuters Institute. “It made us realise we should think more about our decisions, instead of buying into the idea that you have to work with all the social media platforms.”
Architectural progress: President Joe Biden rescinded an executive order issued in December by the former guy making classic architecture the preferred style for federal buildings, according to Bloomberg reporter Justin Sink. The lame-duck order naturally drew criticism from architecture groups. Of course, there are more pressing issues facing the country, but a continuing design evolution of our public spaces and government buildings should go hand in hand with the growth in human knowledge.
Northern lighting: On a related note, I wrote an article for Alaska Business Magazine about some of the lighting challenges architects and interior designers face when designing buildings near the Arctic Circle, with their shortest day of the year logging less than four hours of daylight.
The big picture: The historic Mars landing earlier this week continues to provide amazing views of the Red Planet.
