Support those most vulnerable in the winter storms.

Millions of people across the country are without power after a series of intense winter storms. From Nashville to Chicago, North Carolina to Oregon, states are grappling with power outages, car crashes, and destruction from wind, snow, tornadoes, or hail.

The situation is especially dire in Texas, where over 2 million people are without power throughout the state. Heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures have overwhelmed the state’s power grid, causing widespread outages that have left many communities without power for days on end.

Happy Wednesday, and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily. This is a rougher email than usual. I’m writing at 3am after driving to a friend’s home. My neighborhood hasn’t had power for the past two days with no end in sight, a situation many in Texas are experiencing right now. The call to action below is specific to Texas, but as this storm spreads across the U.S., I encourage you to pursue more local action wherever possible.

Thank you all for your contributions! This newsletter is made possible by our subscribers. Consider giving $7/month on Patreon. Or you can give one-time on our website or PayPal. You can also support us by joining our curated digital community.

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Donate or volunteer with mutual aid funds supporting vulnerable communities.
- Feed The People Dallas | Website or Venmo @feedthepeopledallas
- Mutual Aid Houston | Website or Venmo @mutualaidhou
- Austin Mutual Aid | GoFundMe or Venmo @austinmutualaidhotels
- Para Mi Gente Mutual Aid (San Antonio) | Venmo @pmgmutualaid, IG @para.mi_gente
Donate to commissary funds for those incarcerated in Texas jails receiving inadequate care (via Texas Jail Project).
Local news is critical for many people to stay informed in turbulent times, and can use your support now more than ever. Make a monthly or annual subscription to your local news site if you can. If you can't, be sure to like, follow and share their articles!

GET EDUCATED

By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)

Texas once prided itself on its energy independence. Unlike the rest of the country, the state has its own power grid, managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which acts independently from neighboring states. This means that the state needs to produce enough energy to support its residents. But the grid entered this upcoming storm with a lower reserve than usual, and the weather halted or reduced power generation effort by freezing refineries and wind turbines. It’s not impossible to generate power in cold weather; cold states do it all the time. But Texas chose not to winterize their equipment (Washington Post). This, paired with the increased demand from residents, put the grid at a deficit. And the shortfall can’t be fixed overnight. It will take improved weather conditions and increased production to generate enough power to reach more residents. And in the meantime, there is no timeline for power to be restored.

Power scarcity isn’t a unique issue to Texas; Oklahoma and Louisiana have similar problems (WDSU). On a much smaller scale, California experienced a similar situation during the heatwave last summer (Bloomberg). But the scale and severity of the power outage in Texas is a grave reminder to the rest of the country of what happens when we don’t plan for unprecedented weather amid global warming.

As we often see when analyzing the impact of climate change, black and brown communities are disproportionately impacted by the latest winter storm. Across Texas, there are clear racial disparities in power outages. In Austin, for example, the communities experiencing ongoing outages are predominantly Black and brown, while downtown Austin and other pricier, mostly white neighborhoods have yet to lose power (Statesman).

The storm is also gravely impacting houseless communities across the U.S., who are already vulnerable to the pandemic. With freezing temperatures expected to continue through the weekend, shelters quickly became overwhelmed. Cities are opening more warming centers to provide temporary relief. Mutual aid networks were booking hotels for those unhoused to get a night of reprieve. In Tulsa, a record $1.5M was raised to support those unhoused (Tulsa World). However, as many of the housed community experience ongoing power outages at their own homes, they’re quickly filling up hotels, decreasing available supply.

Those incarcerated in Texas are also struggling during this time. The Texas Jail Project noted that, since losing power, those incarcerated in Harris County Jail hadn’t received hot meals or extra blankets. At another Texas jail, heaters aren’t working, and correction officers have resorted to using table salt on the walkways to mitigate ice (Keri Blakinger on Twitter). The cold and lack of power exacerbate existing inequitable conditions that already threaten their livelihood (Twitter).

The storm also conflicts with the Biden administration’s efforts to increase the vaccine distribution to communities of color – both in Texas and throughout the U.S. Appointments were postponed or canceled altogether because of the severe weather, and additional shipments are delayed. In California, though, two new FEMA sites in Los Angeles and Oakland began mass vaccinations (AP).

Haphazard weather is unavoidable. But it’s our local and federal government’s response to it that influences its severity. With so many marginalized communities in need, it’s important to remember that some of our greatest threats are man-made.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.

Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza

Nicole Cardoza 8/2/20 Nicole Cardoza 8/2/20

Protect those vulnerable to extreme heat during COVID-19.

Get daily actions in your inbox. Subscribe Now ›

Happy Sunday!

During the hot summers growing up, my mom would sequester the whole family into the one room in the house that had an A/C. We'd hang sheets in the doorways to keep the air trapped in and play video games all day. I remember the wall of stifling air that I'd face when I'd pull back the curtain to run to the bathroom, always surprised by how hot it could get in our hometown. Now, I appreciate her ingenuity of keeping us cool.

Today's daily newsletter looks at the relationship between extreme heat and COVID-19, a new and formidable opponent in our global fight against the devastating impact of this disease.

Thank you to all that give to support this newsletter. You can give one-time on our website, PayPal or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). Or, pledge $5/month on Patreon to help us stay sustainable for the months ahead.

Nicole

Share | Tweet | Forward

TAKE ACTION

Research to see whether your state has implemented and/or extended mandatory moratorium on utility shutoffs. If they have not, contact your state governor.

Find a local non-profit organization that offers financial assistance for paying energy bills. Share their work with your community by posting on social media.

GET EDUCATED

By Nicole Cardoza

July was a particularly rough month for America’s battle with COVID-19. With over 150,000 reported deaths, most states are seeing either a second surge or sustained first surge since March. 42% of all known cases in the U.S. were reported in July alone, and as states grapple with the ended of increased unemployment, moratoriums on rent and utilities, and the difficult decision of back-to-school, another silent factor is driving the spread and severity of COVID-19: extreme heat (NYTimes).

It might not garner the same level of attention as other natural disasters, but extreme heat is one of the most deadly types of weather-related events in the US, killing an average of 702 people each year. The CDC reports that extreme heat kills more than hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes on average each year (excluding major natural disasters they cause). When people become overheated for extended periods of time, their bodies may lose the capacity to cool itself down. This leads to spikes in body temperature that can damage the brain and other organs (CNN).

Extreme heat is getting more extreme here on Earth. Since the Industrial Revolution nearly 200 years ago, the global average temperatures have risen by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit (UCSUSA). A new study on global warming indicates that, due to the reckless pace of human-caused carbon emissions, global temperatures could increase by 4.1 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit over the next five decades (Washington Post). And recent reports of unprecedented heat from Siberia to Antarctica (Washington Post), Britain (The Financial Times), and the Middle East (NYTimes) proves that the heat is here to stay.

This is a problem for everyone, but particularly communities of color, who are more likely to live in U.S. counties threatened by extreme heat (UCSUSA). The neighborhoods where they live are often concrete-heavy, dense urban areas with few pockets of greenery. These spaces, referred to as “heat islands” in a recent comprehensive study, can have temperatures as much as 22 degrees higher than their surroundings (Pew Trust). These spaces don’t just exacerbate heart, lung, and kidney disease – health conditions people in these communities are more likely to be afflicted with. They exacerbate the impact of air pollution, another critical topic we’ve analyzed in our COVID-19 newsletter series. And people of color have been corralled in these heat islands for generations because of historical practices of redlining, segregating non-white people into limited and inadequate spaces (Pew Trust). The elderly, already susceptible to the virus, are the most impacted by these disparities.

If Americans stay home, they might be able to beat the heat. A Citylab study from 2015 found that nearly 90 percent of American households have air conditioning of some sort (Bloomberg). These numbers drop slightly based on the age of the home itself; newer residential spaces are more likely to have central air, for example, and older buildings may have a window unit. And even for lower-income communities the number only drops to 75% of households with A/C (Bloomberg).

But lower-income communities, in particular, are struggling to make ends meet, and rising energy costs are a hefty addition to the budget. Estimates indicate that running an A/C all day can cost approximately $12/day, adding $370 to a monthly bill. I used the calculator to estimate my cooling costs for the year, including equipment, in a small space in Brooklyn, NY, and got a range of $3,600 - $5,600 (hvac.com). Millions of people are already behind on paying their power bills since COVID-19 started, so adding hundreds of dollars for lowering the temperature indoors might be impossible (NPR). And because most families are spending more time at home than they would have before COVID-19, they’re facing increased costs in power regardless if they’re running the A/C or not (NPR)

To counter this issue, many states implemented power shut-off moratoriums earlier this year – alongside eviction moratoriums and other initiatives to protect financially-strapped communities. But most of these power-shut off moratoriums were set to expire July 15 or August 1. Some states have extended, but 17 states – including Georgia, Florida, and Arizona – have no official moratorium in place at all, although some power service providers have created moratoriums of their own (NEADA). As extra unemployment benefits end, analysts fear we may be approaching a “tidal wave” of power shutoffs in the midst of this extreme heat (NPR).

So these communities would spend time elsewhere – gathering at the local library or mall, hanging with friends, or frequenting coffee shops or restaurants. In some places, these spaces are closed altogether. But most cities have tried to keep them open to offer respite from the heat. These spaces, often referred to as “cooling centers,” may be a risky place to visit. New reports indicate that airborne transmission “plays a major role” in spreading the virus. Infected droplets can take about 30 minutes to sink from the mouth of an adult of average height to the floor (NYTimes).

To counter airborne viruses, ventilation is key. But ventilation is tricky in common residential or commercial spaces focused on keeping precious cool air in. Simple A/C and HVAC units may accelerate the spread of the virus by constantly circulating the infected air around a room. Benjamin Cowling, the head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong School of Public Health, studied a case of infections at a restaurant in Guangzhou where an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient infected nine other people. The people infected were at other tables and never came into contact with the patient. But each sat in the direct line of the air conditioner, which was blowing air from one end of the restaurant to the other (The Atlantic).

Solving ventilation problems can be relatively easy – locations can upgraded filters in their HVAC systems, or use portable HEPA filters to catch airborne particles as they circulate (The Atlantic). The CDC has offered an additional list of precautions for “cooling centers” to protect others, including buying PPE for guest use, cleaning frequently, maintaining social distance, and raising awareness. And as temperatures lower across the country, it will be easier for locations to open windows to encourage fresh air. But closed and cool spaces can still be dangerous, and may themselves be impacted by the growing burdens of power costs.

Extreme heat isn’t just a public health issue. It’s a key part of the disparities that make racism a public health crisis. August tends to be a hot, if not hotter, month across the country so we can expect the burden of extreme heat and its intersection on COVID-19 to persist. We’ll see the same disparities come into play in the winter, when it’s warmth – not cooling – that’s costly and difficult to navigate with ventilation. We must rally for the people in our communities most impacted by the fluctuations in temperatures in the months ahead.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Extreme temperatures exacerbate the impact of pre-existing conditions that influence the severity of COVID-19
Communities of color are more likely to be impacted by extreme temperatures
Inadequate ventilation can increase exposure to COVID-19
Energy costs can make it more difficult for lower-income communities to stay cool