You guys crack me up...
Humans will fail. It’s inevitable. The real question is...do we learn from our mistakes?
When a tidal wave took out the Fukushima Nuclear Plant...it was caused by a lack of foresight. After the disaster...every Nuclear Plant in America had an engineering review. They expanded the envelope of what a natural disaster might be. Earthquake, tidal wave, drone attack, 9/11 type aerial attack...what can the plant withstand? What improvements are necessary to protect the plant from such a failure?
Texas is getting a lesson. It, hopefully, will be a moment of learning. And they will rethink their strategy for the energy grid.
Most of these companies are free market to an extent...yes, there is government regulation...but it’s not really a political thing. The government may persuade a direction thru incentives...but free market will still decide.
I am amazed that we have a contingent of people, that must spend every waking hour, trying to spin everything into a US vs THEM political finger pointing session. I’m embarrassed for us as a country. The rest of the world can sit and watch the great USA Jerry Springer Show...and marvel in our ability to destroy our nation from within.
When I served in the Military...we didn’t play any blame games. There were no excuses. Did we make mistakes? Well anyone that has ever kept up their assignment of manuals knows, we are constantly revising our methods based on past experiences. If it is a new Caution...something probably got bent. If it is a Warning, there may have been a hull loss, injury, or loss of life. But we own the mistakes...and move forward to remedy them. We don’t blame them away on a Democratic or Republican agenda.
People...as a nation we have to start owning Up to the challenge...know where the buck stops...and move in a unified direction without spending all of our time, wasting it on finger pointing and blame games.
Texas has learned a tough lesson. The problem is a lack of redundancy, and failure to foresee a weather event such as the one that just occurred. I love the Aviation related comments. It has taken time...but we have gone from four engine airplanes to three engine airplanes to two engine airplanes. We didn’t do it overnight. We did it based on records of operational reliability. We still seem to be expanding our envelope...less physical separation between aircraft, lower fuel reserves...as our positioning and reporting technology...our weather services technology...aircraft self-reporting of winds, temperature, turbulence...traffic management. It all means there is less slop in the system. We can more accurately predict the outcome of a flight before we leave the gate. Like an Airplane...two or more of everything...Engines, Hydraulics, Flight Controls, Electrical Generators and Busses, Flight Instruments, Oxygen, you name it...we don’t put all of our eggs in one basket. Texas has too many eggs in one basket. They aren’t tied, like many other regions, to grids elsewhere in the country. No one technology can support their entire grid...so they fail...and don’t have an alternate airport in their flight plan. I think they will be spreading their eggs out better in the future. And planning on having an alternate. Green energy still has a place in the puzzle. Lowering fossil fuel emissions, less reliance on foreign oil, cleaner air and water, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. It’s just another engine on the wing...
I am least glad that when we have an issue in Aviation...we aren’t sitting around blaming Biden or some politically aligned policy. It still isn’t always pretty (IE...737MAX)...but it eventually gets enough brain trust involved to find a solution.
Wasting time debating issues based on partisan politics is a first world problem. It’s just great that we have the luxury. But the more we dwell on it...the faster we may find ourselves havin third world, or worse, performance.
That’s just my perspective on it. I fully support and would defend your right to have your own opposing view. In no way does it mean I like you any less.
