Winter is messing with Texas

Extreme winter weather exposes cracks in Southern energy grids; France considers controversial legislation on secularism.   Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum. TOP NEWS Winter storm wreaks havoc in Texas Montinique Monroe/Getty Images Winter Storm Uri has covered 75 percent of the continental United States in snow, with another storm expected to hit the already-strained American South. [The Wall Street Journal / Talal Ansari and Elizabeth Findell] Across the South, whose energy grids are largely unwinterized, power outages have left people without heat and water, causing rolling — and in some cases continual — power outages. [Vox / Umair Irfan] In hard-hit Texas, deregulation has disincentivized power companies from securing their grids for winter weather. Now, pipelines have frozen, power plants have gone dark, and the price of electricity is soaring — and over 4 million Texans are without power. [The Washington Post / Will Englund] The natural gas companies that primarily power the grid have enforced rolling blackouts in order to reduce the load at the direction of state regulators, with some areas experiencing persistent outages. [The Houston Chronicle / Marcy de Luna and Amanda Drane] The outages, combined with nearly a year of the coronavirus pandemic, have pushed many Texans to the physical and mental brink: People are unable to charge their medical devices, sleeping in their cars, and losing access to water and grocery stores. [The Texas Tribune / Shannon Najmabadi and Marissa Martinez] Minority neighborhoods were among the first to lose power and could be the last to see it returned. Their houses often lack proper insulation and will be at risk of pollution exposure due to proximity to stopping-and-starting industrial sites. [The New York Times / James Dobbins and Hiroko Tabuchi] Across Texas, hundreds of cases of hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning have been reported in hospitals as people desperately try to get warm using stoves, grills, gas ovens, and other dangerous means. [The Dallas Morning News / Joseph Hoyt] A political battle has ensued, as Republicans have blamed wind and solar energy shutdowns for the blackouts and used it as an opportunity to criticize the Green New Deal — which has not been passed. In actuality, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy are responsible for the vast majority of outages. [The Associated Press / Ali Swenson and Arijeta Lajka] French National Assembly passes bill enforcing secularism The French National Assembly approved a bill that would enforce religious secularism for any private contractor engaged in public service — such as a bus driver. It also approved "anti-separatism" legislation that restricts homeschooling and ties government grants to affirmation of French secular principles. [Euronews / Alice Tidey] Though it goes unnamed, the bill clearly targets Islamist extremism. France's weakened Socialist Party decried the bill as a transgression against civil liberties and promoting security over social welfare, while the right said it did not go far enough. [The New York Times / Roger Cohen] Protesters have called the bill anti-Muslim, saying it stigmatizes Islam. [France 24 News] Critics of centrist President Emmanuel Macron have said the bill, which his party supported, is an attempt to shore up right-wing support against his strongest competitor, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, in upcoming elections. [The Associated Press / Elaine Ganley] MISCELLANEOUS Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) filed a lawsuit against former President Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and two extremist groups for violating the Ku Klux Klan Act by collaborating to disrupt public officials from carrying out their duties. [Vox / Nicole Narea] In lieu of a Mardi Gras parade, New Orleans residents decorated their houses with impressive floats this year. [The New Orleans Advocate / Doug Maccash] At a town hall in Milwaukee, President Biden made new coronavirus goals — elementary schoolers back in classrooms full-time within 100 days and vaccines to everyone who wants them by August. [Politico / Christopher Cadelago and Natasha Korecki] Vox's sister site The Verge is hosting a live event on March 1 with Sen. Amy Klobuchar that will focus on a big debate in Congress: Fixing Section 230 Without Breaking the Internet. Tune in at 2 pm ET for Klobuchar's keynote on tech regulation, antitrust enforcement, 230 reform, and live audience questions. VERBATIM "Texas is a gas state. Gas is failing in the most spectacular fashion right now." [University of Texas Austin energy resources professor Michael Webber, on the source of Texas's blackouts] LISTEN TO THIS Vox book critic Constance Grady suggests some reads that make you feel like you're trapped in one of Hopper's classic scenes: In Sunlight or in Shadow, Raymond Chandler books, and Play It as It Lays. [Spotify / Constance Grady] Read more from Vox   Baby bonds could shrink the Black-white wealth gap   How to avoid losing all your money on investing apps   America's racist housing rules really can be fixed   The hidden holes in America's social safety net   Understanding Silence of the Lambs' complicated cultural legacy   Facebook Twitter YouTube This email was sent to edwardlorilla1986.paxforex@blogger.com. Manage your email preferences, or unsubscribe to stop receiving all emails from Vox. If you value Vox's unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution. 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