'I Don't Want to Be Here Anymore.' The Economic Cost of Houston's Heat.
Wall Street Journal via msn.com
Story by Rachel Wolfe, Amara Omeokwe • July 28,2023
HOUSTON—Houstonians pride themselves on how they tolerate heat. This summer, the heat has become intolerable. Businesses and residents in America’s fourth-largest city have moved much of life indoors, changing work and spending habits. Some residents say they are reminded of quarantining during the pandemic’s early days: ordering in groceries, avoiding social commitments and looking for ways to stay entertained from the couch.
… If the weather pattern so far this summer continues through August, Texas’ gross state product this year will be reduced by roughly $9.5 billion, a 0.47% lower growth rate, according to Ray Perryman, an economist and president at the economic research and analysis firm the Perryman Group. That estimate assumes average temperatures in the state this summer will be roughly 2.6 degrees above the long-term average since 1900, Perryman said.
… A 2019 research paper found that, on average, each one-degree Fahrenheit increase in the mean summer temperature in the U.S. leads to a 0.154 percentage-point decrease in the annual growth rate of gross state product. The decline is roughly double in Southern states, such as Texas, said Bridget Hoffmann, an economist at the Inter-American Development Bank and one of the paper’s co-authors.
… The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the state’s electrical grid and in recent years struggled to perform during severe weather events, said peak energy demand has reached new highs five times so far this summer. Most recently, peak demand reached 82,592 megawatts on July 18, compared with the record before this summer of 80,148 megawatts in July 2022.
More here
https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-dont-want-to-be-here-anymore-the-economic-cost-of-houstons-heat-3cf69016?mod=RSSMSN
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Pic Of The Moment: Ah, The Party Of Personal Responsibility
Power outages = electrical grid - Cancun
“California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity,” Cruz wrote back then.
