Governor Flees Texas Cold For California

Up here in Amarillo we normally have worse winters than the rest of Texas. We'll get our share of ice and snow several times in a winter, so the city knows how to deal with such weather. Amarillo even owns some snow plows -- and regularly uses them. So while we got snow, ice, a brisk wind and below zero temperatures (we set a city record at -5F a couple of nights ago), the schools and businesses remained open and life went on pretty much as usual -- and there were no "rolling blackouts".

But much of the rest of Texas was hit hard by the ice and snow and frigid temperatures, and since they don't get this weather very often, life was severely disrupted all the way down to South Texas. Schools and businesses were closed and the roads were very dangerous (since no Texan really knows how to drive on ice). But perhaps worst of all, many areas (Houston, Austin, Dallas-Ft.Worth, etc.) were hit with rolling electrical blackouts. Consumers were left without electricity for 30 to 45 minutes at a time, sometimes several times a day. And in homes heated by electricity, that can be very uncomfortable.

The electric companies are saying that that didn't have enough natural gas pressure to handle the increased demand. That sounds more than a little fishy to me, since Texas is one of the largest natural gas producers in the world (and production has skyrocketed enough to put over $9 billion in the state's "rainy day fund"). This is precisely the kind of thing that needed some attention from the governor's office.

Sadly though, Texas' governor was not even in the state. Governor Rick Perry was in sunny Southern California. Perry left Texas on Wednesday, just as the crap was starting to hit the proverbial fan (and returns on Sunday). Perry's excuse for leaving was to celebrate the 100th birthday of former (and dead) president, Ronald Reagan. Of course, Reagan's birthday is not until Sunday (February 6th), so it seems like he would have had time to put some pressure on gas and electric producers and deal with the blackouts before traipsing off to California.

But that would assume he possesses a minimum level of competence -- something he could never be accused of. I think Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirsten Gray probably put it best when she said, "While we endured a power grid breakdown that literally left us in the dark and looking for answers, the governor not only offered no leadership -- he was nowhere to be found."

The governor's office has been held by Perry (and before him -- George Bush) for so long, I've forgotten what it's like to have competent leadership in that office.