Biden/Harris Presidency Discussion Thread

Water John

They can burn all that oil for everything, why should they rely on any one else?

L1011

They're in a great location for solar, and coastal wind; but bugger all use unless they can sell it out easily. DC interconnects allow for *some* of that but not as easily.

Water John

They're so independent, they're thinking of going for Texit.

Brian?

correct horse battery staple wrote: »

Nex thats just Russian trolls incepting the seeds of an *xit, Texas literally begged to join the federal union at one stage in history. Not that there is a process of exiting the US unlike the EU, last time a bunch of states tried they ended up with a Civil war

Texas is the only state that has a mechanism to leave the union, it was part of the arrangement they made when joining.

Celticfire

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

Well it seems that Republicans are now blaming Biden/the Dems for Texas suffering rolling blackouts due to unexpected winter storms. Biden has already signed off on disaster relief funds but nope, not good enough for the Republicans, this is Bidens fault and the democrats are all to blame.

Which Republicans are saying that it's Bidens fault and that democrats are to blame?

Quin_Dub

Celticfire wrote: »

Which Republicans are saying that it's Bidens fault and that democrats are to blame?

Certainly there is a concerted effort by Fox et al and their usual GOP guests to try to blame the issues on the Green Agenda - aka Biden and the Democrats.

This is based on the news that some Wind Turbines are off-line due to the extreme cold , even though "green" energy accounts for less than 20% of capacity in Texas. There are also multiple Oil/Gas power stations offline , but that doesn't fit the narrative of course.

Of course this utterly ignores the reality of the situation and that that GOP favourite - Deregulation is at the core of the problems they are now experiencing.

Texas decided to de-regulate the Electricity market to allow the Utilities to maximise profits.

In order to fully deregulate, they had to disconnect Texas from the national grid , as if they were connected they'd be subject to Federal regulations etc.

That disconnection means that getting access to surge energy capacity is much much more difficult , so they are now having to ration access to power to try to keep things running because they can't simply purchase energy from neighbouring states the way everybody else does.

The de-regulation has also meant that the Power Stations are no longer required to adhere to Federal standards . So they made decisions like "Texas never gets really cold so we don't need to spend money of insulation or any of that cold weather operations stuff" in order to make more profits.

As a result , Power Stations of all types are going offline right now in Texas when similar facilities in traditionally far colder States like Michigan , Nebraska and the like are able to function perfectly well because they continue to meet Federal standards.

Celticfire

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Certainly there is a concerted effort by Fox et al and their usual GOP guests to try to blame the issues on the Green Agenda - aka Biden and the Democrats.

So no actual examples of Republicans saying that Biden and The Democrats are all to blame.

This is based on the news that some Wind Turbines are off-line due to the extreme cold , even though "green" energy accounts for less than 20% of capacity in Texas. There are also multiple Oil/Gas power stations offline , but that doesn't fit the narrative of course.

Of course this utterly ignores the reality of the situation and that that GOP favourite - Deregulation is at the core of the problems they are now experiencing.

Texas decided to de-regulate the Electricity market to allow the Utilities to maximise profits.

In order to fully deregulate, they had to disconnect Texas from the national grid , as if they were connected they'd be subject to Federal regulations etc.

That disconnection means that getting access to surge energy capacity is much much more difficult , so they are now having to ration access to power to try to keep things running because they can't simply purchase energy from neighbouring states the way everybody else does.

The de-regulation has also meant that the Power Stations are no longer required to adhere to Federal standards . So they made decisions like "Texas never gets really cold so we don't need to spend money of insulation or any of that cold weather operations stuff" in order to make more profits.

As a result , Power Stations of all types are going offline right now in Texas when similar facilities in traditionally far colder States like Michigan , Nebraska and the like are able to function perfectly well because they continue to meet Federal standards.

In all fairness it's an unprecedented event. To compare Texas that rarely gets snow to Michigan that's buried under snow for months is a fallacy.

duploelabs

Celticfire wrote: »

So no actual examples of Republicans saying that Biden and The Democrats are all to blame.



In all fairness it's an unprecedented event. To compare Texas that rarely gets snow to Michigan that's buried under snow for months is a fallacy.

There are plenty of examples peddled by fox news in this video, examples start at 2'37"

Quin_Dub

Celticfire wrote: »

So no actual examples of Republicans saying that Biden and The Democrats are all to blame.



In all fairness it's an unprecedented event. To compare Texas that rarely gets snow to Michigan that's buried under snow for months is a fallacy.

It is and it isn't..

It is absolutely a rare event for Texas , but without any question their ability to handle said event has been directly and negatively impacted by their efforts around de-regulation.

Without de-regulation , they could have obtained additional capacity from outside the State relatively easily and probably wouldn't have had so many system failures and outages as a direct result of divergence from Federal Standards.

The same thing happened in 2011 and they were warned then that their lack of cold weather protections and lack of interconnects needed to be addressed and they simply didn't do it - In large part because deregulation made it very difficult to force the companies to spend the money.

Greg Abbott was on the TV earlier in the week claiming that what was happening in Texas was a warning to all about the "Dangers of the Green New Deal" when the current issues in Texas have absolutely sod all to do with it.

Why is he not talking about the multiple failures across the Natural gas network that are at the root of the problems???

Celticfire

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Why is he not talking about the multiple failures across the Natural gas network that are at the root of the problems???

For the same reason that the other side of the aisle want to pretend that there's absolutely no problems with wind turbines freezing.... vested interests.

I'm still waiting for evidence of Republicans blaming Biden and the Democrats for what's happening. Clips of people warning about the future and problems they foresee are not the same as what was claimed.

duploelabs

Celticfire wrote: »

For the same reason that the other side of the aisle want to pretend that there's absolutely no problems with wind turbines freezing.... vested interests.

I'm still waiting for evidence of Republicans blaming Biden and the Democrats for what's happening. Clips of people warning about the future and problems they foresee are not the same as what was claimed.

Did you actually watch and see the examples in the video posted? Which one disagrees with what you claim?

Celticfire

duploelabs wrote: »

Did you actually watch and see the examples in the video posted? Which one disagrees with what you claim?

I didn't make any claim... Another poster did. I asked a question for that claim to be backed up.

duploelabs

Celticfire wrote: »

I didn't make any claim... Another poster did. I asked a question for that claim to be backed up.

And it was, in that video.

Brussels Sprout

Celticfire wrote: »

I'm still waiting for evidence of Republicans blaming Biden and the Democrats for what's happening.

https://twitter.com/mx_vs13/status/1361882445587578880

Quin_Dub

Celticfire wrote: »

For the same reason that the other side of the aisle want to pretend that there's absolutely no problems with wind turbines freezing.... vested interests.

Except, they aren't doing that and Wind Turbines aren't freezing in Iowa or Wisconsin are they?

What's different about those places and Texas?

hint - It's got absolutely nothing to do with the typical weather profile , it's down to adherence to Federal Standards are regulations.

Celticfire wrote: »

I'm still waiting for evidence of Republicans blaming Biden and the Democrats for what's happening. Clips of people warning about the future and problems they foresee are not the same as what was claimed.

So when the clips and links that have been shared show multiple Republicans blaming Green policies or suggesting that if the Green New Deal came in things like the current situation would be much worse , who exactly do you think that is aimed at if not the Democrats/Biden???

Are you actually holding out for a clip of someone specifically saying "The Power cuts are Joe Bidens fault!!" ?

Celticfire

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Except, they aren't doing that and Wind Turbines aren't freezing in Iowa or Wisconsin are they?

What's different about those places and Texas?

hint - It's got absolutely nothing to do with the typical weather profile , it's down to adherence to Federal Standards are regulations.

Really? Have you ever witnessed the freezing rain that falls in Texas? Completely different weather profiles contrary to what you think and that's notwithstanding an unusual weather event.. But of course wind turbines don't freezer over in Colorado or Wyoming as they meet federal standards.
https://article.wn.com/view/2021/02/14/Frozen_wind_turbines_could_cause_power_outages_in_Grand/

Frozen wind turbines could cause power outages in Grand
Posted 2021-02-14 , Sky-Hi News
Mountain Parks Electric is asking customers to conserve energy on Sunday after it was notified that regional wind turbines are iced over.

Sunday afternoon, MPE notified its customers that the regional wind turbines that help provide energy to the area are frozen and unable to generate power

So when the clips and links that have been shared show multiple Republicans blaming Green policies or suggesting that if the Green New Deal came in things like the current situation would be much worse , who exactly do you think that is aimed at if not the Democrats/Biden???

Are you actually holding out for a clip of someone specifically saying "The Power cuts are Joe Bidens fault!!" ?

Yes.... That's what was claimed. It's not hard...

Well it seems that Republicans are now blaming Biden/the Dems for Texas suffering rolling blackouts due to unexpected winter storms. Biden has already signed off on disaster relief funds but nope, not good enough for the Republicans, this is Bidens fault and the democrats are all to blame.

I'm finished on this point because as usual an inch can't be given.

Manic Moran

Quin_Dub wrote: »

Except, they aren't doing that and Wind Turbines aren't freezing in Iowa or Wisconsin are they?

What's different about those places and Texas?

hint - It's got absolutely nothing to do with the typical weather profile , it's down to adherence to Federal Standards are regulations.

It also has to do with winterisation of equipment. Texas has a crapload of wind turbines, we do over a quarter of the wind turbine power generated by the entire country. Part of the reason (not only because of lots of open space) is that Texas-based turbines are cheaper to make than Iowa or Wisconsin turbines because they don't worry about winterisation requirements like heaters or special lubricants. There is a federal recommendation on winterisation, but it is not a regulation. This applies to all sorts of power generation equipment in the State, not just green power. Natural gas production and oil refining and distribution, both also large parts of the Texas grid, are similarly not as winterised and have failed to meet demand. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/ After the 2011 cold and issues failing to meet requirements, some winterisation was done, but not to the levels required for this event. The thermometer outside my house hit -14C. this has been a very rare event. The last time it was this cold was over three decades ago, the money is simply better used elsewhere. Same with the streets which are simply closed. They're not ploughing and gritting them much here, San Antonio doesn't have many ploughs and gritting trucks. Why spend the tax money on the things? For the sake of a cold day every few years?

In my case, I'm annoyed that I still am not allowed turn on my solar panels. I had them installed over a month ago (the local power grid does an excellent deal on solar), to the point that so many people had it installed that the city inspectors are running over a month behind. Fortunately, my power never went out.

As ever, the reality around here is far more complicated than the political binaries being thrown around. No, it's not a result of 'green policies', but it's similarly not just a result of Texan independence or 'deregulation'. My power provider (CPS) is government owned. ERCOT is a federally mandated state organisation, with limits. For example, in order to max power output this week, it needed to request permission from the Federal secretary of energy. http://www.ercot.com/content/wcm/lists/225167/DOE_202c__final_.pdf

The initial vibe I'm getting is that the Texas Public Utilities Commission (supposed to oversee ERCOT) may be failing, much as California's PUC failed in its overseeing of PG&E. (The actual sub-symptoms are different with different causes, but ultimately it boils down to the state oversight of the responsible organisation). Much is being made of the fact that the people in charge of ERCOT don't live in Texas (One is in Michigan and ran the Michican PUC until last year, presumably she knows something about the cold weather, the other is in California), but they seem well qualified for the position. It seems reasonable to presume that some form of mitigation and event preparation could have been possible, but I similarly think that claiming that this could have been completely prevented is unreasonable.

Manic Moran

Brian? wrote: »

Texas is the only state that has a mechanism to leave the union, it was part of the arrangement they made when joining.

Common myth, I'm afraid.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/29/texas-secession/

Every few months, the question seems to come up: If Texas wanted to, could it secede from the United States?

Simply put, the answer is no. Historical and legal precedents make it clear that Texas could not leave the Union — at least not legally.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/more-150-years-texas-has-had-power-secede-itself-180962354/

Article IV, Section 3, of the U.S. Constitution states that Congress must approve any new states. But Texas’ claim to an exception comes straight from the 1845 joint congressional resolution admitting Texas into the Union. It reads: “New States of convenient size not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas and having sufficient population, may, hereafter by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the Federal Constitution.” Supporters of Texas division say this means that Congress pre-approved a breakup.

What it does mean is that Texas is basically pre-approved to split into five. Which, if they're all Republican is a lot of senate seats, but as the Smithsonian article states, it goes counter to Texan identity to do it.

Snickers Man

SNIP. No insults please.

listermint

Manic Moran wrote: »

It also has to do with winterisation of equipment. Texas has a crapload of wind turbines, we do over a quarter of the wind turbine power generated by the entire country. Part of the reason (not only because of lots of open space) is that Texas-based turbines are cheaper to make than Iowa or Wisconsin turbines because they don't worry about winterisation requirements like heaters or special lubricants. There is a federal recommendation on winterisation, but it is not a regulation. This applies to all sorts of power generation equipment in the State, not just green power. Natural gas production and oil refining and distribution, both also large parts of the Texas grid, are similarly not as winterised and have failed to meet demand. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16/natural-gas-power-storm/ After the 2011 cold and issues failing to meet requirements, some winterisation was done, but not to the levels required for this event. The thermometer outside my house hit -14C. this has been a very rare event. The last time it was this cold was over three decades ago, the money is simply better used elsewhere. Same with the streets which are simply closed. They're not ploughing and gritting them much here, San Antonio doesn't have many ploughs and gritting trucks. Why spend the tax money on the things? For the sake of a cold day every few years?

In my case, I'm annoyed that I still am not allowed turn on my solar panels. I had them installed over a month ago (the local power grid does an excellent deal on solar), to the point that so many people had it installed that the city inspectors are running over a month behind. Fortunately, my power never went out.

As ever, the reality around here is far more complicated than the political binaries being thrown around. No, it's not a result of 'green policies', but it's similarly not just a result of Texan independence or 'deregulation'. My power provider (CPS) is government owned. ERCOT is a federally mandated state organisation, with limits. For example, in order to max power output this week, it needed to request permission from the Federal secretary of energy. http://www.ercot.com/content/wcm/lists/225167/DOE_202c__final_.pdf

The initial vibe I'm getting is that the Texas Public Utilities Commission (supposed to oversee ERCOT) may be failing, much as California's PUC failed in its overseeing of PG&E. (The actual sub-symptoms are different with different causes, but ultimately it boils down to the state oversight of the responsible organisation). Much is being made of the fact that the people in charge of ERCOT don't live in Texas (One is in Michigan and ran the Michican PUC until last year, presumably she knows something about the cold weather, the other is in California), but they seem well qualified for the position. It seems reasonable to presume that some form of mitigation and event preparation could have been possible, but I similarly think that claiming that this could have been completely prevented is unreasonable.

No one said it's completely preventable.

I don't think that's a fair response to anyone here.


But where's the disaster planning in 'the great state' one of the wealthiest states in the union.

Frankly this episode is ridiculous like utterly ridiculous. Absolutely f all disaster recovery in place for something as basic as power generation.

AbusesToilets

Biden continues to push back against Congressional proposals for 50k student loan forgiveness. Interesting to see how much of a disconnect develops between Congress and the Executive in policy goals, and who ends up blinking.

Headshot

Madness to give the students going to the likes of Harvard a 50k student loan forgiveness

AbusesToilets

Headshot wrote: »

Madness to give the students going to the likes of Harvard a 50k student loan forgiveness

Please explain why? Madness is bailing out businesses for their poor decisions and greed. Investing in your citizens isn't imo

Water John

Education is the best key resource for a country to improve living standards for the wider population. Making it accessible only to financially priviliged is is absolute madness.

StringerBell

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Biden continues to push back against Congressional proposals for 50k student loan forgiveness. Interesting to see how much of a disconnect develops between Congress and the Executive in policy goals, and who ends up blinking.

I liked his answer on the question last night alright.

I'm sure there will be a middle ground found.

AbusesToilets

An effort ought to be made to wrest the monetisation of knowledge away from universities. Students are exploited in multiple ways, forced to buy new books selling old information, forced to take unnecessary courses at cost, on and on. It all contributes to the ballooning costs of education.

Perhaps making state universities free, and only giving federal loans for STEM fields and the like would be of benefit. Deincentivise people from going into debt persuing Arts degrees that don't offer strong employment opportunities. University shouldn't be a profit focused industry in the manner it is in the US. The accrued debt is a massive burden on the younger generation, and has demonstrably negative impacts on the economy and society.

Headshot

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Please explain why? Madness is bailing out businesses for their poor decisions and greed. Investing in your citizens isn't imo

You have to be financially privileged to go to elite schools like Harvard, why should they get 50K student loan forgiveness and also those students often go on to make high salaries

Personally speaking I'd be more open to the idea of public university students getting their debt forgiven rather than private schools and plus those public university are considerable cheaper to attend than private universities so I dont thnk 50K is needed

AbusesToilets

AbusesToilets wrote: »

An effort ought to be made to wrest the monetisation of knowledge away from universities. Students are exploited in multiple ways, forced to buy new books selling old information, forced to take unnecessary courses at cost, on and on. It all contributes to the ballooning costs of education.

Perhaps making state universities free, and only giving federal loans for STEM fields and the like would be of benefit. Deincentivise people from going into debt persuing Arts degrees that don't offer strong employment opportunities. University shouldn't be a profit focused industry in the manner it is in the US. The accrued debt is a massive burden on the younger generation, and has demonstrably negative impacts on the economy and society.

Just to point out that non stem degrees are valuable and beneficial. To abandon the arts is to abandon a piece of culture and knowledge. You'll also find plenty of knowledgeable people come from arts backgrounds such as history, economics, English or whatever else. You might not necessarily end up working in that field but the degrees tend to be pretty focused on critical thinking which is useful in plenty of fields.

You say university shouldn't be profit focused but you basically just treated academia focused degrees as worthless...

I'm from an arts background fyi and work in a stem field, it's worked to my advantage.

In relation to debt and it being covered, I'd favour forgiveness of some kind for everyone tbh. Means testing for existing debt sounds challenging tbh.

Gbear

Deleted User wrote: »

Just to point out that non stem degrees are valuable and beneficial. To abandon the arts is to abandon a piece of culture and knowledge. You'll also find plenty of knowledgeable people come from arts backgrounds such as history, economics, English or whatever else. You might not necessarily end up working in that field but the degrees tend to be pretty focused on critical thinking which is useful in plenty of fields.

I'd see it more as unshackling relatively low-paying degress from the millstone of loan debt.

There would still be plenty of options available for students to study the humanities without student loans.

Ultimately, the loans don't do what they're supposed to. They create an arseways incentive structure that screws everyone bar a few piggies guzzling at the trough.

Getting rid of loans entirely might be a better system, or removing the government-guarantee (which would amount to the same, as you can take out a private loan for any reason you like, assuming the bank thinks you're a safe enough bet), but if the only ones for which it was guaranteed and unavoidable through bankruptcy, were STEM degrees, it would probably have a massively deflationary effect on the cost of other degrees.

Colleges would still have capacity, staff to keep busy and pay, reputations to uphold and whatever else. There would probably be some shift, or some colleges might choose to specialise away from some degrees, but there would still be a demand for humanities degrees, and it would be met in one way or another.

MadYaker

Headshot wrote: »

Madness to give the students going to the likes of Harvard a 50k student loan forgiveness

My cousin (a son of working class irish imigrants) went to Harvard and his parents re-mortgaged their house that they'd bought over there to pay for it. Not everyone who goes to Harvard is a millionaire but I agree with the essence of your point, if they're going to do it it should be means tested.