Merv's Texas Adventures

Discussion in 'SBAF Blogs' started by purr1n, Dec 31, 2020.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Texas is expanding solar like crazy. There's already three times more solar power generation since when I first moved here. Things go a bit quicker here because we don't care as much as X or Y endangered species and NIMBY is weaker. I'm pretty sure I can put a windmill in my backyard if I wanted to. However, the neighbors may not take too kindly upon that. Between solar and wind to cover for each other, we should be set for the future.
    upload_2022-7-11_13-32-6.png
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2022
  2. scblock

    scblock Friend

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    I know several developers working on multi-gigawatt solar portfolios in Texas with 2-3 year timelines, and I probably only know a few of the total huge developments. Like with wind before it one of the key questions for huge solar expansion in Texas may be grid capacity, but I'm not as plugged into ERCOT grid expansion plans as I was 10 years ago and don't have any real knowledge about it now.

    It's a lot tougher to get big projects together in areas with more forest, more terrain, or high quality cropland. And even though solar doesn't have most of the visual and sound impact aspects of wind power, the NIMBYs still come out in force against it in some places. Lots of disinformation out there. We'll keep working though.
     
  3. Syzygy

    Syzygy Friend

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    Yup, I was in a meeting at 2:40pm and the power flickered enough to reset my cable modem.

    We need more grid capacity if we're gonna start plugging in cars! And especially if people keep moving here.
     
  4. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    And really, it is what it is. Many other states are in just as bad condition or worse because of environmental factors.


    FWIW, I don't mind litmus tests for Californians coming here. However, it's really not necessary because statistically the Californians moving here are more conservative than the average Texan. Contrary to public perception, especially from the coasts, Texas is evenly divided with a high percentage of people who lean neither way. Even then, the Democrats in Texas aren't certifiably insane like in California.

    Commiefornia will soon pass legislation on a Worker's Council For Big Fast Food Businesses. Starting wage at McDs will now be $22 an hour, be adjusted for inflation if not downright determined by the Council of Comrades. Screwing talking about raising minimum wage to $15 when it can be simply be determined by unelected officials to be $22. I'm convinced cosmic forces will physically break off California west of the San Andreas fault line and sink it into the ocean.

    https://calmatters.org/california-divide/ca-divide-workplace/2022/08/fast-food-workers/
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2022
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Last edited: Aug 30, 2022
  7. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    ^ one (of many) factors included in that pricing is the rental company's risk of ever retrieving the rental truck as "functional" after it enters texass and it's chances of being used for: various rodeo animal transfers, border crossings, smuggling attempts and / or target practice from locals seeing the out of state plates.
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The thing is that all that shit, especially the illegal alien transfers, happens in California too. Add drug mules. I knew of a few illegals that did this. They borrow citizenship cards from US citizens because evidently all Mexicans look the same to border guards. Starting from Tijuana, up north on highway 5 to SF, then east on 80 to Denver.

    Besides, shipping containers are dirt cheap. Way cheaper than Uhauls. One can buy one used for $3k, and who cares if the refrigeration doesn't work or is flakey.
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2022
  9. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    Both true in their own ways.

    In reply to the Vice article - the bigger question should be why are so many people leaving CA (IIRC both CA and NY are the biggest states and they are shrinking) and similarly, why are they generally disliked, even when landing in other blue states? Most people I've talked to in most other states all around the US in the last 10 years dislike people from CA moving into town for many reasons beyond just "drive up prices". Also curious about the numbers for people moving from TX to CA - I've been seeing a lot of TX plates around my part of town lately anecdotally.

    In reply to uhaul prices - IDK if that's it either - could also be dumb stuff like there being higher taxes, fees, regulations / other gov stuff, operational overhead, more maintenance on the vehicles (uhauls I've rented for occasional work use in the past in CA tend to be in better condition vs the few uhauls I've had to rent in other states), the cost of driving them all back b/c so many people are leaving CA, just knowing that so many people are leaving and hence they can gouge for it, etc.
     
  10. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    Notice here:

    "...That may sound confusing, but doing some quick math makes it all very clear. The population of the United States minus Texas—because people already in Texas cannot move to Texas—is 300.86 million people. California’s population is 39.35 million, or 13 percent of the U.S.’ non-Texas population. Therefore, more than 13 percent of Texas’ new residents would have to be Californians in order for there to be something of note going on here.

    But that’s not the case. According to Placer.ai, which uses “foot traffic data” gleaned by tracking people's phones, 11.1 percent of new Texans from July 2019 and July 2022 are from California. That’s actually slightly less than one would expect based on an even distribution. If anything, the pertinent question from Placer.ai’s data is: Why are so few Californians moving to Texas?..."

    That the article assumes an even distribution from each and every state - but that's not the way it works, as intra-state movement is dependent on many factors, not the least of which is distance (more people move to nearby states and within region, etc.).
     
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  11. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    TBH, I didn't even read that far. This is Vice.com, not the WSJ or NYT.
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Last edited: Aug 31, 2022
  13. Syzygy

    Syzygy Friend

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    Anecdotal, but we know a person that flew from CA -> TX to do a local U-Haul rental here in TX, drove it back to CA to get their stuff, moved it to TX, and returned it. They said it was cheaper than one-way rental from CA. That was a couple year's ago.
     
  14. Grattle

    Grattle Friend

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    upload_2022-9-26_18-11-52.gif
    (Lenticular from Tool - Aenima CD)
     

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  15. Metro

    Metro Friend

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  16. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It's basically a clusterfuck. First, the desalination plants are not for people. The Port of CC and the City of CC wanted to attract more petrochemical companies (think dense industrial zones in Sim City, plastics companies, refineries, etc.) so they partnered together to offer the building of the desalination plants. Lots of freshwater is needed for these industrial processes, I would presume for cooling. Now depending upon who you talk to, the desalination plants could be for people too, which in a way isn't incorrect because the plants will suck up all other sources of fresh water from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, etc.

    First of all, I'm not going to be dumb, all holy, and anti-fossil fuels & shit because it's the cool thing to do right now. I look around and I see plastics everywhere in my house, in my gadgets, and our three cars still run on petro. We'll get there one day to fusion, wind mills, solar panels and electric cars (electric cars are cheaper to run in TX than in CA because our electricity is 1/3 to 1/4 the cost). People who are really that anti fossil fuel, particularly if they live in the West where we consume like crazy, should kill themselves to save the rest of the world.

    The problem is that the the proposal for the plants involves dumping the brine directly into the Nueces and CC Bay at these proposed spots.
    cc.jpg

    Now, I'm absolutely OK with heavy industry. We in Texas will be more than happy to "take one" for the climate-holy Californians and their NIMBY crap. What I'm not OK is that the desalination plants dumping brine directly in the bay, which is already is rather stagnant from dams upstream and the fact that it the bay is enclosed by the reef island. My house is at the bottom of the map pretty far from the where the salty discharge is going to be, but looking at the geography I would have concerns. It doesn't take a tree hugger to get that this salty brine water being dumped into the bay by x5 desalination plants is going to get rid of a ton of shrimp, fish, dolphins, stingrays, crabs, etc. with up the food chain effects to the birds. Also, much of the waters and swampy areas near the shores are brackish. Of one the highlights of CC is that it's one of the places for birders; and boating & fishing is a big part of local culture. I could care less if it's one stupid species that really should die, e.g. oversized turkey with big wings (California Condor), but we are talking about an entire ecosystem here.

    The right way to do it is to pipe up the discharge into the ocean out of the bay, but this costs money. The EPA put a stop to the current plans for good reason.

    I'd join the tree-hungers, but my problem is that I seek a middle path. That doesn't work in the USA today.
     
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    Last edited: Nov 13, 2022
  17. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Your only choice is to join the tree huggers to GET a middle path after negotiation. Otherwise it’s fuckall wanton dump the brine in your backyard.
     
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  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Yup. Texan eco people may actually be reasonable. Before the EPA changes its mind in two years when the winds blow the other way in the White House. Too much demand for petro-products and LNG throughout the world. The Ukraine situation will calm, but I'm sure the EU / Germany won't be putting all its eggs in one basket (Russia) anymore. The Port of CC is already #1 in LNG exports, so we know who is going to win eventually. I'd give the run another 20-30 years before the Permian basin runs out of gas.

    It's what I frankly told my daughter when she asked what will happen to their generation and their kids with respect to overpopulation, overconsumption, and the environment: Oh, you are fucked.

    The good thing is that human beings will adapt and the looming disasters will be more than likely be localized one small* geographical location at a time - in essence the changes will be gradual - hopefully.

    *"Small" being affecting only 2-3M people. To put things in perspective, USA circa 2022 is about 340M?

    P.S.

    This is the new bridge project that will allow supertankers to traverse through to the bay. TX DOT has condemned it as being a shit (unsafe) design. Haha. Incompetence everywhere. CC is a small/medium city in the midst of growing pains.
    Corpus_Christi_Harbor_Bridge_June22.jpg

    Here's the photoshop of what it is supposed to look like.
    [​IMG]

    This is the reality (a few months ago)
    PXL_20220413_000347738.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2022
  19. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    May not need to go as far as killing themselves.

    This reminded of something I saw some time back. I don't know how it was calculated, or if it would still be true: The best thing any individual can do for environmental issues it to have one less child.

    (I hope we weren't supposed to get rid of pre-existing kids! o_O :eek: )
     
  20. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    I'll remember this when our annoying relatives ask why my wife and I don't have kids. God forbid we're happy just spending time with each other and we don't need a child to fill a void in our lives.
     
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