First no electricity, now no water.
For centuries, Apaches and Comanches shrugged; they got along without both. Still do, by and large, on their reservations. (That’s because Texas doesn’t have any reservations to speak of.)
Today’s non-reservation Texans, which is basically all Texans, might like you believe they’re rugged like their settler ancestors. At least that’s the impression I get from their bloviating.
Which is good, because Texas has an unreliable electric grid, because they refuse to tie into regional and national grids, and their standalone grid is prone to failure, like last winter when several hundred people froze to death in their homes.
Now Odessa, a city of 114,000 sweltering souls near the border of New Mexico, has no water. Their 60-year-old water line broke. To find out how they’re managing, read story here.
Texas has something else besides no electricity or water: Elon Musk. He moved there from California, and took his car company with him, presumably because he likes the conservative politics and low taxes better. Taxes pay for public services, and where there aren’t taxes, you don’t have any.
I’m not interested in moving to Texas. I like Seattle just fine.
Photo: The Odessa municipal water supply
