Texas heat and a "hotter than a firecracker" future

At least up here in North Tex-ass, it is NOT hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth, thanks to overcast weather and pop-up showers over the past weekend.

But, it was last week, and the state is expected to be hotter than average for the rest of the summer. (Don't forget that the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration do NOT use overall historical averages for their "average temperature" on a date; it's just the average of the last 30 years, rolled upward a decade at the start of a new decade, which means the feds are making global warming the new normal.)

As Peter Holley notes, the "new normal" is not the old normal, as shown last week, and semi-legendary Texas grit, just like the "willpower" of Schopenhauer, only goes so far in dealing with this. 

The Observer talks about hospital visits in the recent heat wave. Remember Strangeabbott signing the bill killing local water breaks.

And, it's going to get worse in the future.

Environmental author Jeff Goodell, whom I've read before, and is good, has a new one out, titled straightforwardly, "The Heat Will Get You First," reviewed by the Monthly, Holley in specific. Among other things, Goodell notes, per East and Central Texas vs West Texas and beyond, that it is indeed not just the heat. And, of course, warmer air can hold more humidity. Beyond that, he says climatologists have not ruled out a 125F degree day in Austin in the future.

In the interview, Goodell says he's optimistic, though, noting how growth in renewables has grown. (This ignores, though, as non-Gang Green environmentalists know, that nationally, renewables as a portion of total US energy use have NOT grown that much, and that a fair chunk of that remains hydroelectric from dams that are often older, and that, due to climate change [Hoover and Glen Canyon dams coming immediately to mind] often generate less electricity than 20 years ago due to less of a water "load" behind them.)

Russell Gold talks about the solar power within Texas' renewables' deck of cards. He claims the Lege's war on renewables has so far "failed." He really ought to read Chris Tomlinson before saying such things. Or me. Or others. But, his reporting on energy has often been questionable for years. He also ignores what I said above about renewables as a percentage of portfolio.

And, here's another reason I'm NOT optimistic, but it's at the national level. Neoliberal Joe says he's open to geoengineering. Showing its collective values and mindset, the EU is also looking at it. Geoeingineering could well be Homo sapiens' biggest self-induced clusterfuck this side of causing a global nuclear war. It is hugely neoliberal, it is hugely in the realm of "salvific technologism," as in, thinking that the tech cavalry will always come riding over the hill, a phrase I've not used in a couple of years, and it is hugely a "solutionism" idea, per a word of Yevgeny Morozov.