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☆ Texas needs money to keep the lights on during extreme weather. It’s funding more fossil fuel instead
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But rather than shuttling money into strengthening its grid to make sure the lights and A/C stay on during increasingly extreme weather, Texas is pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into new natural gas-fired power plants. Adding more electricity to the grid isn’t necessarily a bad thing because the state is facing higher demand, said Texas energy expert Doug Lewin, founder of consulting firm Stoic Energy. The state prioritizes natural gas power plants or backup natural gas generator systems. Centerpoint and other Texas utilities are no stranger to extreme weather. “In addition to extreme weather, the company’s service area also experiences heavy precipitation and extreme temperatures,” the company wrote in the report.

Persons: Beryl, Doug Lewin, ” Lewin, it’s, Texas Republicans ’, ” Michael Webber, Centerpoint, Joshua Rhodes, ” Rhodes, Rhodes, It’s, haven’t, doesn’t, ”, Alison Silverstein, Microgrids, Lewin, “ We’ve, “ That’s Organizations: CNN, Houston, Energy, Texas Republicans, University of Texas, Centerpoint Energy, UT Austin, Texas Public Service Commission Locations: Houston, Texas, Austin, “

☆ ‘Even Jordan doesn’t have his face on a sneaker’: How Stan Smith became both a tennis and fashion icon
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-11 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Depending on your age, the name Stan Smith probably means one of two things. Even Jordan doesn’t have his face on a sneaker.”Stan Smith during his victorious 1972 Wimbledon run. The rise in popularity of the Stan Smith sneaker coincided with a slump towards the end of his tennis career and it began permeating a wide array of cultures in the UK and US. “It was one of my goals to win that tournament,” Smith says. Stan Smith, Ilie Năstase and Tom Okker at a meeting of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in London, 20th June 1973.

Persons: Stan Smith, ” Smith, “, it’s, ”, Cari, Jordan doesn’t, ” Stan Smith, Danny Lee, Smith, that’s, Stan Smith sneaker, David Bowie, ’, Pharrell Williams, Robert Haillet sneaker, Nicolas Armer, Horst Dassler, Donald Dell, Adidas Robert Haillet, Gary Aspden, ” Arthur Ashe, Arthur Ashe, Henry Burroughs, Ashe, ” Dell, Lyndon Johnson, Ashe couldn’t, Bob Lutz, LeBron James ’, Dell, Martin Luther King Jr, Tony Duffy, Allsport, Ashe’s, Arthur, ” Lee, Smith’s, Mark Mathabane, Marjory, Mathabane, Roger Jackson, wasn’t, Niki Pilić, Pilić, Smith –, Ilie Năstase, Tom Okker, Michael Webb, Stan Organizations: CNN, Adidas, Wimbledon, Hulton, Beastie Boys, Davis, Pasadena Tennis, US Davis, USA, Los Angeles Tennis Club, Americas, Civil, wouldn’t, Star ”, South, University of South, Central Press, International Tennis Federation, ‘, Yugoslav Tennis Association, Tennis, Association of Tennis Professionals, Keystone Locations: Young, Paris, USA, French, Wimbledon, Pasadena , California, Pasadena, American, Mexico, America, Vietnam, Houston , Texas, United States, South Africa, Beverly Hills, Soweto, Alexandria, South African, Johannesburg, University of South Carolina, ‘, London, ’

☆ Heat waves: Here’s why your AC can’t save you anymore
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Then came the heat wave. But it is also a lifeline against increasingly brutal heat, the deadliest type of extreme weather. It allows people to live in places where temperatures push close to the limits of survivability and where extreme heat persists even at night. And many electrical grids are being pushed to a breaking point due to increasingly frequent extreme weather and soaring demand for cooling. Heat can affect vital organs and cause heat exhaustion, heat stroke and even death.

Persons: Ida, ”, Jen Brady, Michael Webber, Webber, Brian Stone Jr, Hurricane Ida, Leah Millis, ” Webber, ” Stone, Stone, Kate Gallego, ” Gallego, it’s, Mario Tama, Central’s Brady, —, Ian, “ Organizations: CNN, Climate Central, Climate, University of Texas, Georgia Institute of Technology, “, Service, Authorities, Arizona Public Service, Babcock Locations: Louisiana, New Orleans, Austin, California, Pacific Northwest, Europe, Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, New Orleans , Louisiana, Hurricane, Atlanta, Detroit, Phoenix, Phoenix , Arizona, Florida

☆ Wind and solar are propping up the Texas power grid amid a brutally long heat wave
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Thank wind and solar, energy experts say. “The thermal plants have bounced up and down,” Lewin told CNN, saying thermal plant outages during heatwaves have been high by Texas grid manager ERCOT’s own standards. The state is also rapidly installing battery storage, to store wind and solar energy when the sun isn’t shining and wind isn’t blowing. “I think what they’re leaving out is the intermittency of the thermal plants, they continue to neglect that,” Lewin said. That’s not to say renewables are a panacea, but the point is thermal plants are also not a panacea.”

Persons: ” Michael Webber, “, Doug Lewin, Webber, ” Lewin, ERCOT’s, Mark Felix, ”, ERCOT, Lewin, that’s Organizations: CNN, Texas, “ Renewables, University of Texas, Energy Information Administration, Renewables, Energy, US Energy Information Administration, Lone Star Locations: Austin, Texas, Hill County , Texas, AFP, Gulf of Mexico

☆ Review: This ‘Hamlet’ Under the Stars Is No Walk in the Park
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For those who remember the 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of “Much Ado About Nothing” — as I do, fondly — the sight that awaits them at this summer’s “Hamlet” in the same location is disturbing. The flagpole bearing the Stars and Stripes sticks out of the ground at a precipitous angle, like a javelin that made a bad landing. For the director Kenny Leon and the scenic designer Beowulf Boritt, both returning for this “Hamlet” — the Public Theater’s fifth in the park since 1964 and 13th overall — it’s a coup de théâtre, if an odd one. An approach that had been designed to welcome audiences to a new way of looking at Shakespeare in 2019 now seems destined to exclude them. But this “Hamlet” has been placed in a frame that doesn’t match what the production actually delivers, leaving me glad to have seen it but wishing for something more congruent.

Persons: ”, Stacey Abrams, Kenny Leon, Beowulf Boritt, théâtre, Jason Michael Webb, Wood Locations: Black, Atlanta, tatters

The UK government has promised to overhaul the youth gender care system, after it was deemed inadequate by England’s regulator of health and social care. They described a deeply flawed system that is now hobbled by a toxic political climate around gender care. The letter said a decision would be made at some point from early 2022 on whether the child “is likely to meet the access criteria” for gender care. The family has received no NHS gender care or mental health support since the referral, she said. These recommended supporting “identity exploration” and mental health treatment as the first steps to ensure that any psychological issues are addressed.

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