That is why they call Tx a 'lone star" state, it has its own power grid and doesn't face federal regulations.
Yet they ask for Federal Help.
Texas wind turbines haven’t been equipped with the same winterization packages as those in the northern U.S., while machinery for other sources wasn’t as well insulated and struggled with water intake issues in the frigid temperatures.
Texas snowstorm wreaks havoc on state power grid | TheHill
No
Penelope
Like all other States, we have a pretty even split between Liberal Democrats who want to nationalize uniform policy for individuals through federal govt vs Conservative Republicans and Libertarians who believe in fixing problems democratically to keep control of resources LOCAL to people and states.
This problem can and should be resolved locally as much as possible, and only authorize to federal govt where everyone agrees.
The problem was ERCOT underestimated the loss of energy production from the freeze, and was only used to problems during hotter months with heat waves.
Yes, this needs to be fixed and the negligence in not scheduling and warning consumers of extended blackouts will require corrections as well as compensation for losses.
But the last thing we need is to "politicize" this crisis for partisan exploitation that already screwed up the pandemic response.
We need to solve problems in the most sustainable effective ways that encourage investment in democratic self govt so that federal govt also runs as cost effectively as possible.
Half the state may lack faith and run to federal govt to solve everything.
But that doesn't supercede the rights and responsibilities of the people who believe we should be enforcing that same authority directly ourselves.
These are not the same approaches
Penelope
The REAL Conservatives push for maximum ability of all people to achieve equal protections through self govt, and at most, temporary BUT NOT PERMANENT assistance from federal govt.
As with the approach that Jesse Jones from Houston brought to federal govt for the recovery from the Great Depression, the economic support through govt was intended to be TEMPORARY welfare ONLY, for two years, until states could return to being self sustaining without federal help.
But social security, public housing, and other programs continued beyond that because bureaucrats kept using the federal support without implementing means of weaning people and programs off the federal funding and returning to local support.
To this day, Conservatives and Libertarians are still fighting to remove these TEMPORARY social programs from federal govt, while Democrats and other liberal progressives and socialists want to keep them there.
You are right, there are SOME liberal Republicans playing the same career politics as Democrats and not weaning states off federal funds, but prolonging the process while these politicians benefit either way.
But that is why both parties are split. Because there ARE Conservatives in both R and D parties OPPOSED to the dependence on federal govt. If you notice, the REAL Conservatives from Hannity to Levin denounce and distance themselves from Liberal Republicans that compromise Constitutional limits and prolong the liberal abuses of federal govt for social legislation that formally belongs to people and state jurisdiction.
It is not fair or accurate to say the same people calling for independence are calling federal govt to step in. You are right that this IS contradictory, and that's why Conservative Republicans yell so much about hypocrite sellouts corrupting the party by defeating their own values.
If we the people enforce the Constitution directly instead of relying on feds, we become our own govt.
That is the end goal of Conservative approaches, not more dependence but returning to independence, as before the Great Depression and consequent legislation created temporary federal support programs that were never agreed on as permanent.
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