Idle Observations

I know, for many people, learning that Andrew Cuomo was deliberately lying about nursing home death numbers while he was comforting them with power points is just too much cognitive dissonance, and they want to resolve it by making the problem go away, fingers in the ears.

— Zephyr Teachout (@ZephyrTeachout) February 21, 2021

Gotta say I don’t give a shit what Andrew Cuomo did or did not say about deaths in New York. But maybe that’s because I live in Texas and have slightly more consequential government lies to worry about.

For my book, I interviewed Texan Republicans, Democrats, oil guys + clean energy pioneers. Texas was once leading in wind energy, with GOP support. Now we get lies, from the Gov on down on renewables. What happened?

Lessons from Short Circuiting Policy https://t.co/KtxaBci5oC 🧵 pic.twitter.com/lXGXR70CoG

— Dr. Leah Stokes (@leahstokes) February 20, 2021

Gov. Bush was so proud of Texas’ leadership on wind energy, that he campaigned on it when running for President in 2000.

The "bill he signed in 1999 will make Texas the country’s largest market for renewable energy by 2009."https://t.co/T4dKZ5qGnA pic.twitter.com/MMFHqrGVDT

— Dr. Leah Stokes (@leahstokes) February 20, 2021

With Gov. Abbott going on TV this week and lying, blaming the boogeyman “Green New Deal” and wind turbines for Texas’ current crisis, GOP leadership on renewables feels like ancient history.

What happened over the past 15 years?https://t.co/jp3EqyORuu

— Dr. Leah Stokes (@leahstokes) February 20, 2021

Fossil fuel interests they are extremely big donors to the Republican party.

They maintain GOP discipline by threatening Republicans who support renewables or climate action with lost money and primary challengers. Over time, this shifts the party.https://t.co/W8L5yqDgOJ

— Dr. Leah Stokes (@leahstokes) February 20, 2021

There are lessons for Texas from California. But it’s not about renewables. It’s about the political effects of blackouts.

In the early 2000s, California faced severe power outages. As a result, Gov. Gray Davis lost a recall election. If I were Gov. Abbott, I'd be worried.

— Dr. Leah Stokes (@leahstokes) February 20, 2021

And then there's that question of identity, as in: why do people link their personal identity to ideas symbolized by things?

It is endlessly hilarious to me that people like this believe it's impressive to pose w/ guns. Like, you bought them. Like I buy groceries. Imagine posing w a bunch of sliced ham and mayo and being like "this is my identity, look at me, look at my identity, I can make sandwiches"

— Ryan Gielen (@ryangielen) February 18, 2021

Or, for that matter, link their identities to political ideologies?