AUDIO:

POSSIBLE TOPICS: VOTETEXAS.GOV—Voter Information; Oct. 10 Deadline to REGISTER TO VOTE; APPLY FOR MAIL-IN BALLOT; Tomball enters Stage 2 drought; mandatory water restrictions in place; Harris County’s new burn ban could last until October; Texans can purchase school supplies, clothes tax free this weekend; Houston considers first-ever policy to regulate how to create and terminate TIRZs; $30 — The Entrance Fee to America’s Museums Keeps Rising; Amid Signs of a Covid Uptick, Researchers Brace for the ‘New Normal’; Low-Income Puerto Ricans to Get $450 Million for Rooftop Solar; Solar power to the rescue as Europe’s energy system weathers extreme heat; More

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig where we discuss local, state, national, and international stories. My co-host, assistant producer and show editor is Andrew Ferguson.

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Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio) is now on Wednesdays at 11AM (CT) or Thursdays at 6PM on KPFT 90.1 FM-HD2, Houston’s Community Media. You can also hear the show:

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Except for timely election info, the extensive list of voting resources will now be at the end.

1. VOTING IN THE NOVEMBER 7^TH GENERAL ELECTION:
   1. Make sure to register to vote, or update your address by the October 10thdeadline. Click here for more information on voter registration. 
   2. Deadline to apply for a mail ballot is Friday, October 27. Click here for the application.Fill it out, print it, and then mail it to our office before the deadline.
   3. In HARRIS COUNTY, go to COM. For any place in Texas, you can go to VOTETEXAS.GOV
2. Tomball enters Stage 2 drought; mandatory water restrictions in place; By Lizzy Spangler | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 5:04 PM Aug 8, 2023 CDT / Updated 5:04 PM Aug 8, 2023 CDT
   1. The city of Tomball [in Harris County] has entered a Stage 2 drought, with mandatory water conservation measures in place for residents, according to an 8 news release.
   2. In a nutshell — A Stage 2 drought is triggered when total daily demand exceeds 70% of the city’s production capacity for three consecutive days, according to the city’s water conservation and drought contingency plan.
   3. This is an escalation of the Stage 1 drought, which the city entered into July 19, Community Impact previously reported.
   4. The specifics — According to the news release, under a Stage 2 drought:
      1. Watering with irrigation systems or hose-end sprinklers is prohibited between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m.
      2. Odd addresses are restricted to watering on Wednesday and even addresses are restricted to watering on Thursday.
      3. Washing vehicles and filling swimming pools is prohibited between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m.
      4. The use of water for fountains or ponds that do not support aquatic life is prohibited.
      5. Watering with a bucket or a watering can is permitted at any time, according to the news release.
   5. Learn more — Residents can learn more about the Stage 2 drought and keep up with the city’s drought status by visiting https://tomballtx.gov/709/Drought-Status.
   6. ANDREW: This story got me doing some research. I found a series of articles from NASA back in 2005 that estimate that maintaining all the lawns in the lower 48 states requires around 200 gallons of fresh water per person per day. Considering there’s 12,000 people in Tomball, you can see how water supplies got tight. Lawns made up of grasses and plants that are native to the ecosystem they’re in, however, would require a lot less water to maintain. I’d suggest that Tomball consider an ordinance requiring new-build property to plant native grasses and plants instead of the usual “pretty” grasses. 
   7. ANDREW: Side note, also from NASA: leaving grass clippings in your yard can help fight global warming. Decomposing clippings release a little bit of carbon, but way more nitrogen, which kicks your lawn into photosynthesis overdrive and captures a whole lot more carbon than the clippings release. Across the US, that could mean up to 37 billion pounds of carbon per year pulled straight out of the atmosphere. Something to think about.
   8. MIKE: You make some good points. In the arid southwest, they’re actually encouraging not only native plants like various cactuses and brush, but also landscaping with rock. We had drought conditions in the Houston area about 10-12 years ago, and I’ll tell you I was sorely tempted to go that route. I couldn’t put enough water on the ground to keep things alive.
   9. MIKE: When you hear loud blowers early in the morning, it’s usually yard people blowing dirt and grass clippings back on the lawn, so there’s that.
   10. MIKE: I remember for decades hearing about the long-term benefits to the lawn and the environment of so-called mulching mowers that deposit finely-cut clippings back in the yard. There are only two practical downsides to those mowers: 1- The cut grass clippings are not all that small, and 2- over time, your ground level rises. That creates problems like lawn edges rising above curbs, walks, and driveways. It also often requires periodic “de-thatching” to take out the tangles of old grass.
   11. MIKE: As Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say, “It’s always something.”
   12. REFERENCE: Ecological Impact of Lawns — NASA, 11/8/2005
   13. REFERENCE: More Lawns than Irrigated Corn — NASA, 11/8/2005
   14. REFERENCE: Looking For Lawns — NASA, 11/8/2005
   15. REFERENCE: In 1907, the community of Peck was renamed Tomball for local congressman Thomas Henry Ball, who had a major role in the development of the Port of Houston. — Wikipedia
3. Harris County’s new burn ban could last until October; By Melissa Enaje | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 5:08 PM Aug 8, 2023 CDT / Updated 5:08 PM Aug 8, 2023 CDT
   1. A burn ban is now in effect for at least the next three months in unincorporated Harris County after commissioners approved the measure at an Aug. 8 meeting, citing extreme temperatures and continuous dry conditions. Harris County joins more than 160 other Texas counties that have already implemented a burn ban including Galveston, Waller, Chambers, Liberty and Montgomery County.
   2. Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen said in a news release that excessive heat conditions and a lack of rain have elevated various environmental levels that could cause potential forest fires. …
   3. The details — Harris County residents will have to abide by the following guidelines and are advised to report any unattended fires to 911, according to Public Information Officer Brandi Dumas.
   4. “Let’s make smart decision during this ban because we are experiencing very dry conditions,” Dumas said.
   5. What’s allowed:
      1. Approved ceremonial fires
      2. Non-commercial cooking such as backyard cookouts and barbecues
      3. Welding performed under county fire code requirements
      4. Sale or use of fireworks is allowed, but the department discourages using it altogether during the ban.
   6. What’s not:
      1. No outdoor, open burning except in outdoor burning activities authorized by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
      2. Those actions found in violation of the burn ban will be considered a Class “C” misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $500.
   7. The Harris County Fire Marshal’s office shared the following tips for residents to keep in mind during the ban period:
   8. The Harris County Fire Marshal’s office shared the following tips for residents to keep in mind during the ban period:
      1. Store gasoline in an approved safety can away from occupied buildings.
      2. All combustibles such as firewood, wooden picnic tables, boats and stacked lumber should be kept away from structures.
      3. Clear roof surfaces and gutters regularly to avoid the build-up of flammable materials such as leaves and other debris.
      4. In rural areas, clear a fuel break of at least three times the fuel length around all structures.
   9. Zooming out — As of Aug. 8, Harris County’s average drought scale is 681, according to county officials. Conditions between 600-800 have the potential to lead to intense, prolonged fires.
   10. ANDREW: I’ve never understood why people have to be told not to burn things. Ceremonial fires, I get, I’m not talking about them. And I understand that not everyone has municipal trash pickup. But surely there have to be other methods of waste disposal that don’t risk smoke inhalation, self-immolation, or burning your house down. Am I missing something?
   11. MIKE: Out in the country, where trash pick-up is a rare or expensive thing, they often burn wood, grass, brush and other stuff in ventilated metal barrels so the fire gets oxygen. Those fires send up sparks. Without burning, folks can end up with massive piles of debris over time. I think those people are the main target of the “burn ban” order. Then, you have the firebugs: people who just like to burn stuff. Of course, no county burn bans will get through to those folks.
4. Texans can purchase school supplies, clothes tax free this weekend; By Hannah Norton | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 4:08 PM Aug 7, 2023 CDT / Updated 4:08 PM Aug 7, 2023 CDT
   13. As families prepare for the 2023-24 school year, a variety of school supplies and clothing will be sold without sales taxes Aug. 11-13.
   14. Qualifying items worth under $100—including backpacks, lunch boxes, uniforms, graduation gowns, fabric face masks, school supplies and more—will be exempt from state and local sales taxes. Purchases can be made in stores, online, by phone or by mail.
   15. Shoppers will save around $136 million in sales taxes this weekend, according to the Texas comptroller. …
   16. Texans who pay sales taxes on qualifying items during the tax holiday can request a refund from the seller or fill out a form.
   17. Visit the comptroller’s website for a complete list of tax-exempt items.
   18. MIKE: Absolutely take advantage of the “Sales Tax Holiday”. But for me, this so-called “sales tax holiday” is another opportunity to remind listeners that Texas is effectively a “Flat Tax” state. That means that there is no progressive taxation in Texas that I’m aware of.
   19. MIKE: If you buy clothes, rich people pay the same tax rate you do, but it’s a smaller fraction of their income. If you buy fuel or use electricity or natural gas, rich people pay the same fuel tax rate that you do, but it’s a smaller fraction of their income. If you buy a car, rich people pay the same sales tax rate that you do, but it’s a smaller fraction of their income. If you own a $100,000 house, you pay the same property tax rate as people who own a $1 million house, but it’s a smaller fraction of their income.
   20. MIKE: And of course, Toll Roads are flat taxes that not only cost the rich a smaller fraction of their income than you. Toll roads also discriminate against the poor, essentially making travel and commuting slower for many in the working classes by excluding them from the toll roads. (By the way, this also increases air pollution, as slower traffic pollutes more.)
   21. MIKE: By design, all Texas taxation punishes the poor, and punishes them more the poorer they are.
   22. MIKE So, “Sales Tax Holidays” are just a sop to the less-than-rich so they can feel like the State is cutting them a break. Well, the State is not cutting you a break.
   23. MIKE: Cutting you a break would be lowering the flat sales tax rate all year round so that you can save on sales taxes all year round. Cutting you a break would be the State mandating progressively higher property taxes on homes worth a million dollars or more. Cutting you a break would be a progressive State income tax that would allow either more State and local services through revenue sharing or cutting other flat taxes that favor the rich and well-off.
   24. MIKE: So, I am the perennial Grinch of Sales Tax Holidays. Bah! Humbug, I say!
   25. ANDREW: The one good thing about sales tax holidays is getting to hear that speech again. Gather ’round the radio and hear Mike complain. It’s tradition!
   26. MIKE: It’s kind of like my personal version of a Christmas Carol.
5. Houston considers first-ever policy to regulate how to create and terminate TIRZs; 2022 Chronicle investigation found the zones often trap funds in stable or wealthy communities while needier areas stagnate. Mike Morris, Yilun Cheng, Staff writers | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM | Aug. 8, 2023 / Updated: Aug. 8, 2023 6:05 p.m.
   1. MIKE: What is a TIRZ, you may ask? You’ll know shortly.
   2. Houston City Council is set to vote this week on the city’s first-ever policy governing how to create, grow or disband economic development zones, which have sparked controversy for decades and now claim nearly $200 million in city revenue each year.
   3. These Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones, known as TIRZs, were the subject of a Houston Chronicle investigation last year, which found that the agencies often trap funds in stable or wealthy communities while needier areas stagnate. 
   4. The investigation also found that despite Houston being the TIRZ capital of Texas, the city’s only written rules regarding them were approved in 1990 and for decades had simply been waived each time the council formed a new zone.
   5. Mayor Sylvester Turner now is asking council members to amend the city’s financial policies by adding guidelines for how Houston will use TIRZs at Wednesday’s meeting.
   6. Property tax collections within a TIRZ’s boundaries are frozen. As development occurs and property values rise, the additional taxrevenue generated — known as the increment — is invested back into the zone to pay for public improvements and infrastructure in an effort to attract more development.
   7. Under the proposed policy, to start a new TIRZ there must be “committed or known” private investment already planned for the area in the zone’s first year. These developments must be projected to raise property values in the zone by 50 percent before the TIRZ expires, typically in 30 years. And there must also be a clear plan showing how the public projects will bring more private investment into the area.
   8. In the past, the city often drew large zones to include the commercial areas of entire neighborhoods under the assumption that growth would eventually come and generate revenue for new projects. But that didn’t always happen, said Gwendolyn Tillotson, deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development.
   9. “These policies are intended to refine the process and to ensure there are known investments or known funding opportunities,” Tillotson said. “We have to know that there’s going to be private investment from any source coming into the area, because that is the only way that increment is generated.”
   10. This will likely lead to smaller TIRZs more focused on adding improvements around specific projects, said Tillotson and Chief Development Officer Andy Icken. They pointed to a new TIRZ in the Texas Medical Center last December, which includes the site of a 37-acre life science campus known as TMC3. …
   11. The idea of using tax increment financing to stimulate growth in underdeveloped neighborhoods has been widely adopted by cities across the U.S., said Kasia Tarczynska, a senior research analyst at Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C.-based research and advocacy center focused on accountability in economic policies. 
   12. Over time, however, many local governments have strayed from the original intention of revitalizing blighted areas, either loosely enforcing related rules or using the program simply as another financing tool allowing developers to reduce costs, Tarczynska said.
   13. This, she said, is why guidelines for these zones need to be specific and comprehensive. Houston’s brief two-page framework, she said, remains vague and subject to interpretation. …
   14. Under the proposed policy, a zone’s life span would be extended only if it helps fund approved projects or leverages new grants or donations. As for annexations, zones would be allowed to grow if the expansion matches the goals, helps draw private investment to the added section or enables the use of government funds to create housing for low-income residents.
   15. [Gwendolyn Tillotson, of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development said that the] Turner administration’s guiding principle in developing the new TIRZ policies … was that a zone should be an “impermanent catalyst” for private investment by funding public projects in an area. …
   16. MIKE: This story from the Chronicle goes into a lot more detail and is worth reading. I wasn’t paywalled, so maybe you won’t be, either.
   17. MIKE: I think that the last time we discussed TIRZes was March 15, 2021 (link to show). At that time, it was a COMMUNITYIMPACT story about the Montrose TIRZ. We did a lot of head scratching and research to figure out what they were, how they worked, who ran them, and who was responsible for regulating them. I think the answers we came up with were basically “not sure”, “not sure”, “not sure”, and nobody, respectively.
   18. MIKE: That may not have been far off the mark. If the rules regulating TIRZes haven’t been examined and rewritten in a third of a century, I’d say it’s about frigging time. I hope the Chronicle and Community Impact do follow-up stories on this.
   19. $30 — The Entrance Fee to America’s Museums Keeps Rising; Their buildings have expanded and expenses have surged, even as attendance slowed. Art lovers will bear the cost: The Guggenheim is the latest to increase its price of admission to $30 — the new normal. By Zachary Small | NYTIMES.COM | Published Aug. 1, 2023 / Updated Aug. 2, 2023, 3:33 p.m. ET
       1. Audience sizes just aren’t what they used to be at the Guggenheim Museum, where membership — once a dependable source of income — has declined by nearly 16 percent since 2019, and attendance in June slumped by 26 percent, from 89,600 to 65,900, over the same time frame. What has increased is the cost of running the institution. A newly unionized work force has bumped up salary expenses, while inflation is driving up the cost of everything from heating to shipping artworks, according to senior museum officials.
       2. At the Guggenheim, leaders said that options for relief were limited after three years of managing the fiscal crisis of the pandemic. And so on Tuesday, the museum raised admission fees, bringing the cost of an adult ticket from $25 to what is becoming the new normal for major museums: $30.
       3. Most cultural organizations are navigating the same uncertainties, asking if the decision to raise fees to offset operating costs — basically maximizing revenues from a smaller core of visitors and art lovers — is worth the risk of limiting access to great art to mostly wealthier patrons. Museums, which are concerned about alienating the families and the diverse crowds they have been trying to court, say it’s typically a measure of last resort.
       4. “As we recover from the lingering financial strain caused by the pandemic, the museum needs to increase its admission prices, which have not been adjusted since 2015,” said Sara Fox, a spokeswoman for the Guggenheim. “The new rates align with those of the museum community in New York City and will help support the operational costs of the museum.” (When the Guggenheim originally opened in 1959, the museum charged 50 cents admission, or about $5.20 today.) …
       5. Museums, which often receive tax exemptions as nonprofits, are expected to keep their collections accessible to the general public. Some also receive subsidies. The Met received $26 million in government funding for the 2023 fiscal year, on an annual budget of around $300 million, while the Guggenheim received $520,000 during the same period, on a budget of $67.7 million.
       6. Pay-what-you-wish policies often come with limitations. The Met offers its pay-what you-wish program to residents of New York State and students in the tristate area. The Guggenheim charges students $19 (children under 12 receive free admission) and the museum maintains a pay-what-you-wish policy for everyone on Saturdays that is expanding by one hour, from 5-8 p.m. The Whitney holds its pay-what-you-wish hours on Fridays from 7-10 p.m. …
       7. Marcus A. Harshaw, a senior director of museum experience at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, who also teaches museum studies at Johns Hopkins University, said that museums have limited options for an economic fix. Large donations from corporations and philanthropists often come with restrictions that prevent officials from putting the money toward operating costs. …
       8. [Harshaw] added that museum officials are always looking at the bell curve: “When the price goes up, attendance goes down.” …
       9. Raising ticket prices is so unpopular that many institutions have increased fees during periods of leadership transition to diffuse responsibility, several museum experts said. …
   20. MIKE: The article goes on along the lines of rising entrance fees and lower attendance.
   21. MIKE: To me, this isn’t just about the price of museum admission. It’s that “an educated electorate is a prerequisite for democracy.”
   22. MIKE: It’s in the public interest for museums to be as affordable as possible — and free, when possible — to allow the broadest possible educational opportunities to the most people possible.
   23. MIKE: The cheapest tickets I could find for the August 11 Astros game were about $45, so the good news is that a day at the museum is still mostly cheaper than an Astros game. As one example, the Houston Museum of Science is currently (until August 13, at least) $25/person for ages 12 and up. Plus parking, plus food. And don’t forget the souvenirs. That’s easily a day’s pay for a low-wage worker with a family of 4, assuming no one stays home.
   24. MIKE: As a rule, free museum days tend to be around Thursdays in Houston. I guess that might be the day for school field trips.
   25. MIKE: I’ll tell you something funny. Do you want to know what museums are free all the time? The Smithsonian Institution museums and zoo in Washington, DC. Those are some of the best museums on the planet, and they’re always free. Not even the British Museum is free and it’s in the same class … but much smaller. Those are your tax dollars at work. Wouldn’t that be nice for major museums everywhere?
   26. ANDREW: I absolutely agree that museum prices should be as low as possible, and I think that government subsidies are the most obvious way to make that happen. We have enough money in federal budgets for all sorts of military projects that are obsolete by the time they come to fruition. Cut a few of those or sell the outdated tech they produced for scrap and put that money towards enriching people’s minds. Maybe then, the Houston Museum of Natural Science can stop hosting exhibits about the joys of oil extraction.
   27. REFERENCE: Free Houston Museum District Days & Times — HOUMUSE.ORG
       1. Ten listed museums, mainly arts and crafts, are always free.
       2. Another 10 have listed times and days for free admission
       3. Always Free
          1. Asia Society Texas Center
          2. Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
          3. DiverseWorks
          4. Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
          5. Houston Center for Photography
          6. The Jung Center
          7. Lawndale Art Center
          8. The Menil Collection
          9. Moody Center for the Arts
          10. Rothko Chapel
       4. Specific Free Times, General Admission Only
          1. Asia Society Texas Center
          2. Buffalo Soldiers National Museum
          3. Children’s Museum of Houston
          4. Czech Center Museum Houston
          5. The Health Museum
          6. Holocaust Museum Houston
          7. Houston Museum of African American Culture
          8. Houston Museum of Natural Science –visit HMNS Hours and Pricing for their current free hours as they change seasonally
          9. Houston Zoo
          10. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
6. Amid Signs of a Covid Uptick, Researchers Brace for the ‘New Normal’; Infections remain very low, despite signs of a slight increase. Now, experts are looking for clues to what living with the coronavirus will be like this winter and beyond. By Apoorva Mandavilli | NYTIMES.COM | Aug. 2, 2023 / Updated 8:24 p.m. ET
   1. MIKE: In a brief excerpt —
   2. Echoing patterns in prior years, coronavirus infections are slowly ticking up in parts of the country, the harbinger of a possible fall and winter wave. But the numbers remain low for now, and are unlikely to reach the horrific highs seen in previous winters, experts said in interviews.
   3. Infections have been trending upward for about four weeks now, according to data gathered from wastewater monitoring, test positivity rates and hospitalizations and emergency room visits. Taken together, the figures offer researchers and public health officials the first glimpse of the coronavirus as a post-pandemic, seasonal threat, a permanent fixture of the infectious disease landscape.
   4. Wastewater analyses point to the highest increases in the Northeast and the South, followed by the West and Midwest. After hitting a trough at the end of June, hospitalizations are inching upward again, but fortunately very slowly.
   5. Test positivity has risen to 7.6 percent, a level last seen in November 2021, and that summer, just before the Delta variant swept the nation.
   6. “This is the fourth summer now that we see a wave beginning around July, often starting in the South,” said Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
   7. Nearly all Americans have built up multiple layers of immunity following repeated infections, immunizations or both, so the virus is unlikely to cause the harm this winter that was seen in previous seasons.
   8. Still, for older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems or certain chronic conditions, the virus may yet pose a serious threat.
   9. The number of deaths is the lowest since the pandemic began, and roughly one-tenth of the levels in January. Most virus fatalities now occur in adults older than 75. But the real toll will be apparent only at the end of the year, after the fall and winter’s respiratory blitz, experts said. …
   10. CDC says COVID variant EG.5 is now dominant, including strain some call “Eris”; By Alexander Tin | CBSNEWS.COM | August 7, 2023 / 1:14 PM / CBS News
       1. The EG.5 variant now makes up the largest proportion of new COVID-19 infections nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated, as multiple parts of the country have been reporting their first upticks of the virus in months. …
       2. It is one of several closely-related Omicron subvariants that have been competing for dominance in recent months. All of these variants are descendants of the XBB strain, which this fall’s COVID-19 vaccines will be redesigned to guard against. …
       3. [Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead for COVID-19, said on July 26,]”While the emergency of COVID has been lifted and we’re no longer in a crisis phase, the threat of COVID is not gone. So, keeping up with surveillance and sequencing remains absolutely critical.”. …
   11. MIKE: So, add Covid to your list of fall vaccines.
   12. ANDREW: What gets me is that it never had to come to this. We could have mobilized as a society to stop the spread and we just didn’t–or rather, our leaders decided our lives weren’t worth the loss of business. The result is that hundreds of thousands are dead, millions are still at risk, and we will likely never defeat this disease, merely learn to live with it. I hope we don’t let people in power make the same callous choices next time.
   13. MIKE: You’re right. I agree.
   14. REFERENCE: NIH taps Jeanne Marrazzo to succeed Fauci as infectious-disease chief; By Dan Diamond and Rachel Roubein | WASHINGTONPOST.COM | Updated August 2, 2023 at 3:57 p.m. EDT/Published August 2, 2023 at 1:45 p.m. EDT — Jeanne M. Marrazzo, a University of Alabama at Birmingham infectious-disease expert, will succeed Anthony S. Fauci this fall as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, federal officials announced …
7. Low-Income Puerto Ricans to Get $450 Million for Rooftop Solar; A federal lifeline for households vulnerable to island’s frequent blackouts. By Gabriela Aoun Angueira | MOTHERJONES.COM | August 2023
   1. The Department of Energy announced last week that it will provide nearly half a billion dollars to install rooftop solar and battery back-up systems on the homes of some of Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable residents. The funding could cover the installation of as many as 40,000 photovoltaic systems, providing a measure of energy security to an archipelago long burdened by frequent and prolonged blackouts. 
   2. The program, which Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm outlined at an event in San Juan, is part of the $1 billion Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund that Congress approved last December. The fund is intended to provide reliable and affordable energy to the highest-need households, many of whom endure power outages daily or weekly. 
   3. After Hurricane Fiona left the entire archipelago without power last September, President Biden put the Department of Energy in charge of a multi-agency effort to overhaul the US territory’s energy system, which is in disrepair and depends upon fossil fuels to generate 97 percent of its electricity. The campaign includes a two-year study to find the most effective path toward Puerto Rico’s goal of achieving a zero-emission grid by 2050, streamlining approval processes, and deploying the billions of dollars allocated for Hurricane Maria recovery that have not yet been spent.
   4. The effort will take years, and in the meantime, Puerto Ricans suffer from the persistent anxiety of not knowing when the power will go out next. In the last year, the number of rolling blackouts there exceeded the North American utility standard by 570 times, according to DOE. …
   5. The $450 million that Granholm announced will be directed toward the lowest-income households. It will be reserved for people who are medically vulnerable and depend on plug-in medical equipment, and those who live in “last-mile” communities, mostly located deep in the main island’s central mountain ranges. After Maria, some of these municipalities lacked power for nearly one year. …
   6. The focus on “very low-income” families will supplement an already robust solar industry in Puerto Rico. Photovoltaic panel and battery installations skyrocketed after Hurricane Maria, and some 3,000 installations are done monthly now. More than 85,000 households have PV systems. But the poorest households have not been able to participate in the transition according to PJ Wilson, president of the Solar and Energy Storage Association in Puerto Rico, and are burdened by electricity prices at least 50 percent higher than the national average. …
   7. Most of the money will go directly to solar installation companies, nonprofit energy providers and electric cooperatives that will install, own and maintain the systems. An innovative $3.5 million “Solar Ambassador” program will determine which households receive them. The ambassadors will go into communities and identify households most in need—a stark contrast from other widely criticized first-come, first-served programs in Puerto Rico. …
   8. Another notable aspect of the program is its third-party ownership model, which takes the onus off households to maintain the systems. Installers must manage and maintain them for at least 20 years and replace worn-out batteries, and the program allocates consumer-protection funding to hold solar companies accountable. Installers will cover just 5 percent of the cost, making it easier for nonprofit energy providers and small cooperatives to participate.
   9. The program’s structure was in large part shaped by a vigorous community outreach campaign led by Granholm. In the last year, she has been to Puerto Rico five times to gather input from Puerto Ricans at town halls and roundtables. A spring visit to the home of a couple in the mountain town of Orocovis, where their son relied on a ventilator to breathe and a small diesel generator was the family’s only lifeline in a blackout, underscored the urgency of the problem, Granholm told Grist in March. “It’s life or death,” she said. 
   10. The department incorporated public concerns about paying for repairs, prioritizing those most in need, working with existing community networks, and ensuring equitable access to information about the program and the ability to apply. 
   11. Such an approach represents a seismic shift compared to what Puerto Ricans have experienced from local and federal governments, especially in the time after Hurricane Maria caused $90 billion in damage and claimed more than 4,000 lives, according to Charlotte Gossett Navarro of the Hispanic Federation. …
   12. A second tranche of the $1 billion Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund, the details of which will be announced in the coming months, will support energy solutions for multi-family residences. 
   13. The accelerated timeline underscores the dire need for reliable, affordable power in Puerto Rico. Heat indices in parts of the archipelago have reached 125 degrees this summer, and hurricane season is just weeks away. Granholm said Monday that every agency moving Puerto Rico toward a resilient and clean energy future must work as quickly as possible. “Our hair should be on fire,” she said. 
   14. ANDREW: My first instinct was that this program is “damage control”: objectively helpful to keep some people alive, but not solving any underlying problems. Seeing that this is just one part of a larger policy to upgrade the Puerto Rican grid does give me hope that the larger policy can become more than just damage control, but considering the US government’s track record with austerity in Puerto Rico, I’m not going to hold my breath. 
   15. ANDREW: Many other US-imposed austerity-related problems will still exist on the island after this. If Washington can’t bear to let go of its little Caribbean fiefdom, the least it should do is take care of the people there, regardless of how un-capitalist that may be. I would like to see this program be the start of a shift in that direction.
   16. MIKE: Unfortunately, the stuff that the Trump regime screwed up or ignored can’t be fixed overnight; sometimes not at all. The people of Puerto Rico have waited far too long for this kind of US aid, but at least it’s in the pipeline.
   17. MIKE: I agree that if the US wants to keep Puerto Rico as a possession, we should care about the people there. We may be seen by some as an empire; we may even be indifferent imperialists, but I hope and believe we are not simply extractive imperialists.
   18. MIKE: Especially for islands like Puerto Rico, decentralized solar power should be an enormous help after hurricanes. Not every system will survive a storm on every house, but at least losing central power won’t be as much of an issue, and neighbors can help each other where solar survives a storm.
   19. MIKE: I’ll be discussing more about my experience with solar after the next story.
   20. REFERENCE: “Tranche” preferred pronunciation. Spelling and pronunciation of this word appears to be evolving. See “Tranch”.
   21. REFERENCE: Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
8. Solar power to the rescue as Europe’s energy system weathers extreme heat; By Kate Abnett and Susanna Twidale | REUTERS.COM | August 7, 20236:47 AM CDT / Updated 2 days ago
   1. A major increase in solar power generation in southern Europe played a leading role in averting energy shortages during the heatwaves of recent weeks when temperatures broke records and drove unprecedented demand for air conditioning.
   2. Solar power is particularly suited to coping with summer heat as the sun’s radiation is strongest around the hottest part of the day, when electricity demand for cooling is also at its highest.
   3. “The very significant growth in solar basically compensates for the peaks that are caused by air conditioning,” Kristian Ruby, secretary general of electricity industry group Eurelectric, said of the situation in Spain.
   4. Spain and Greece are among the countries that have installed many more solar panels in the face of record high energy prices last year and the quest for increased energy security linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. …
   5. [Data showed that] solar provided almost 24% of Spain’s electricity in July this year, up from 16% in July 2022.
   6. When soaring temperatures and demand for cooling led to a peak in Sicilian power demand on July 24, nearly half of the excess demand – which totalled 1.3 GW – was covered by solar, Refinitiv data show. Sicily’s solar production last month was more than double that of July 2022.
   7. “Without the additional solar, the system stability impact would have turned out much worse,” Refinitiv power analyst Nathalie Gerl said. …
   8. [H]igher solar output helped to satisfy demand in [Italy and Greece]. During Greece’s peak power demand this year, also on July 24, solar photovoltaics covered 3.5GW of the total 10.35GW demand, grid operator IPTO said.
   9. Even in cooler and less sunny western countries such as Belgium, solar energy has covered more than 100% of the extra energy needed during midday spikes in power demand. …
   10. Analysts say a second factor has helped to keep Europe’s energy systems running this summer: overall, power demand has been relatively low.
   11. That has been the case since Europe’s energy crisis last year, when Russia cut gas deliveries to Europe. Energy prices in Europe are still high compared with historic levels – and consumers and industries have responded by using less power. … [O]verall, demand has been below normal – Italy’s average hourly power use in July was 4.4% lower than in July 2022, while Spain’s was down by 3.6%, Refinitiv data show.
   12. [MIKE: This is a process known as “demand destruction” due to “price elasticity”. That’s all a fancy way of saying that higher prices change consumers’ behavior.]
   13. Even before this year’s wildfires and record temperatures, heat and drought last year reduced hydropower generation, hampered fuel transport by river, and forced some nuclear power plants to curtail their output when cooling of the plants was limited by high river temperatures.
   14. In a letter to the European Commission last week, industry groups including SolarPower Europe urged policymakers to speed up investments in energy grids and promote projects that couple solar with energy storage, to ensure solar power expands quickly enough to meet climate change goals.
   15. MIKE: In the interest of keeping listeners up to date on my personal experience with solar power, one of the things I found interesting about this story is that it perfectly reflects my experience with solar power on my house. July showed the highest power generation for the past 12 months, but covered only about a third of my power consumption because of the air conditioning in a time of extreme heat. This tracks the European example.
   16. MIKE: In the winter months from November to February, I had the least solar electric generation, but I was using gas heat. So, between daytime power and nighttime batteries, I was getting about 50-60% of my power from solar. If I had an electric furnace or a heat pump, my electric use would likely have been higher. This also tracks the European example in this story.
   17. MIKE: In a summer power outage, I could turn my AC up to 80 or 85 degrees. That would be uncomfortable, but my power would last longer, and it’s better than the house going to outdoor ambient.
   18. MIKE: This meets my main original goal of energy security: Not having a 24 hour period go by without electricity.
   19. ANDREW: What’s interesting to me here is the offhand mention that people generally have been using less power because energy prices have risen. To me, that supports the possibility of degrowth: reducing production and consumption and making the most efficient use of existing production for the benefit of people and the environment. If people can manage to use less energy to help save money, surely they can use less energy to help save the Earth. All it takes is the right culture and the right incentives.
   20. MIKE: Don’t overlook efficiency improvements. One example is ovens. They used to put massive amounts of heat into the kitchen while cooking food. Their insulation now has gotten so good that the outsides of the ovens are cooler while the walls have gotten thinner. This has also translated into larger ovens in the same kitchen space; literally like 5 pounds of potatoes in a 4-pound bag. These thinner, better-insulated walls also mean more heat to the food, less heat to the kitchen, less air conditioning to stay cool, and less energy being used overall.
   21. MIKE: In my lifetime, car miles per gallon has doubled and tripled. My minivan gets about twice the mpg as my dad’s 1969 Chevy Belaire, with about the same power in a V-6 as he got with a V-8.
   22. MIKE: Energy efficiency has made enormous strides in the last 50 years, in spite of people with the mindset of Ronald Reagan who tore Jimmy Carter’s solar panels off the white House roof out of sheer spite. Those folks are still around and must be opposed.
   23. MIKE: And as Ohioans are saying today, elections have consequences. They can even be good consequences.

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Make sure you are registered to vote! VoteTexas.GOV – Texas Voter Information

1. 1. It’s time to snail-mail (no emails or faxes) in your application for mail-ballots, IF you qualify TEXAS SoS VOTE-BY-MAIL BALLOT APPLICATION (ALL TEXAS COUNTIES) HarrisVotes.com­ – Countywide Voting Centers, (Election Information Line (713) 755-6965), Harris County Clerk
   2. Obtain a Voter Registration Application (HarrisVotes.com)
   3. Harris County “Vote-By-Mail’ Application for 2022
      1. Austin County Elections
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      6. GalvestonVotes.org (Galveston County, TX)
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      12. Wharton County Elections
   4. For personalized, nonpartisan voter guides and information, Consider visiting Vote.ORG.   Ballotpedia.com and Texas League of Women Voters are also good places to get election info.
   5. If you are denied your right to vote any place at any time at any polling place for any reason, ask for (or demand) a provisional ballot rather than lose your vote.
   6. HarrisVotes.com – Countywide Voting Centers, HARRIS COUNTY – IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR VOTING: Do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of these IDs?
      1. Fill out a declaration at the polls describing a reasonable impediment to obtaining it, and show a copy or original of one of the following supporting forms of ID:
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      7. A certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes your identity (which may include a foreign birth document)
      8. You may vote early by-mail if:You are registered to vote and meet one of the following criteria:
         1. Away from the county of residence on Election Day and during the early voting period;
         2. Sick or disabled;
         3. 65 years of age or older on Election Day; or
         4. Confined in jail, but eligible to vote.
         5. Make sure you are registered:
         6. Ann Harris Bennett, Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar
         7. CHECK REGISTRATION STATUS HERE
         8. CLICK How to register to vote in Texas
         9. Outside Texas, try Vote.org.
2. BE REGISTERED TO VOTE, and if eligible, REMEMBER TO FILL OUT AND MAIL NEW MAIL-IN BALLOT APPLICATIONS FOR 2023.
   1. Obtain a Voter Registration Application (HarrisVotes.com)
   2. Just be registered and apply for your mail-in ballot if you may qualify.
   3. You can track your Mail Ballot Activity from our website with direct link provided here https://www.harrisvotes.com/Tracking

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