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[–]JasonCarswell 6 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 3 fun -  (3 children)

I can understand problems with civilian pipes, but it seems irresponsible that all power be so vulnerable. Any chance any of this was more than just an accident?

[–]magnora7[S] 12 insightful - 3 fun12 insightful - 2 fun13 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

There's some talk a computer hack may have been involved. But really it's just that the regulations didn't require it. There were recommendations to fix it after a similar thing happened in 1989 and 2011, but the recommendations to winterize were not followed because there were not penalties for not doing so. That seems to be the core issue

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

In the USSR there was something that happened to a power plant because the parts were made cheaply and without thought for the most extreme of situations. Chernobyl.

Funny how the extremes of corporate capitalism and state communism end up boiling down to similar things: you get fucked up because they want to do it cheaply or easily, and frankly it's mostly good enough.

[–]magnora7[S] 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah I'm really glad the Texas nuclear plant that had to shut down due to frozen cooling lines, didn't meltdown.

This whole week has felt very USSR to me. Empty grocery stores, no utilities... I was seriously beginning to consider burning furniture to keep warm. But now there's so much glue and plastic in furniture it would probably be toxic