Texas Wind Turbines Went Right on Turning Under Harvey’s Impact, as Refineries Shut Down | By Juan Cole | Common Dreams
Texas Wind Turbines Went Right on Turning Under Harvey’s Impact, as Refineries Shut Down
by
Juan Cole
Extreme weather is in our future. Caribbean hurricanes of the future
will be more and more violent and destructive because of manmade global
heating. Sea level rise will open the coast to bigger storm surges. The
number of coastal floods has already doubled
since the 1980s because of people driving their gasoline cars and
running their air conditioners off burning lumps of coal. Hotter air
over hotter water will have more moisture in it, setting the stage for
regular flooding. Hotter water creates more powerful winds within
hurricanes.
So the bad news is that a fossil fuel energy system does not deal well with extreme weather.
Even just by Thursday, Harvey had shut down so
many oil refineries that it had taken 20% of daily US gasoline
production off line. By Friday it was being announced that so many
refineries had been damaged that the major pipeline that brings 3
million barrels a day to the east coast, had been shut down. Altogether,
4.4 mn b/d of refinery capacity is off line now. About half a million
barrels a day of refining capacity will remain shut down well into next
winter.
Wind turbines in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo: Lloyd Wilson via Sandia Labs/flickr/cc)
