Copy
͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ 
View this email in your browser
BY LISA GRAY • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2022
NEWS-TON

A freeze is coming: A cold front is rolling in, and Thursday night and Friday night are both expected to drop below freezing. In case it’s any comfort: “For Houston, temperatures during this freeze should be a good 10 to 15 degrees warmer than last February’s hard freeze,” writes meteorologist Eric Berger. (Space City Weather, National Weather Service)

Will the grid go down again? The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages Texas’ unreliable electric grid, warned that during the coming freeze, natural gas may not arrive to power plants that depend on it. It’s the same problem that caused the deadly outages last year – the problem that in December, Gov. Greg Abbott said we didn’t need to worry about anymore. (Texas Tribune)

The Energy Center, at Exxon Mobil’s campus in Spring. (Getty/Richard Houghton)
PODCAST: EXXON RETHINKS ITSELF

Exxon Mobil announced this week that it's moving its headquarters from Irving, Texas, to its big campus in Spring — which will make it the biggest Fortune 500 company in the Houston area. I discuss it today with City Cast’s business contributor, Loren Steffy.

Here’s an excerpt:

Me: Exxon says this move is part of its reorganization, with the idea being to emphasize carbon-neutral tech. Do you think they can pull that off?

Loren Steffy: The jury’s out, right? They only announced this a few months ago. It’s not like there’s been time to see what they can do.

But Exxon has been late to the table with this. A lot of European oil companies have been way out front in moving to a low-carbon or net-zero future.

The big problem for oil companies is, when everyone talks about net zero and things like that, to reach the goals they set will require some sort of magical technological boost. Carbon capture and whatever other things that we’re discussing, we don’t actually have yet. They’re not working on commercial scale. So that’s a real challenge for Exxon and everybody else working in this space. Making that transition is a lot harder than it looks.

Me: We’re asking them to completely change the products they sell. That’s a huge turnaround.

Loren: It’s actually more than that. Basically we’re asking them to stop selling the things that make them the most money. That’s not something companies have a lot of interest in doing. It’s not a great business model.

🎧 Listen
ONE LAST STORY ABOUT LOOP 610

Katie Kian writes:  

I'm pretty sure it was the summer of 1969. I was about 10. My aunt and two cousins from Virginia Beach were staying the summer with us because my uncle was stationed in Vietnam. My mom was trying to figure out how to entertain six kids, so she told us she was taking us to a new theme park called Astroworld.

She and my aunt piled us all into the Buick station wagon. We left our Meadowcreek Village neighborhood and got onto I-45 North at Monroe, headed toward downtown. Right about that time Mom mentioned she knew about a new freeway and wanted to try taking it because she thought the new route would shorten our trip. 

She found the new 45/610 connector ramp. There was an orange and white barricade partially blocking the entrance, but she drove around it. Some of us older kids began to notice and told her, "Mom, I don't think this road is open yet!" 

She responded with something like, "It's okay, we won't be going very far."

Workers started waving at her and saying, "Lady, the road is closed!" But she kept driving. It was as if she didn't see them, which was uncharacteristic of her. She and my aunt were just talking like everything was normal. 

Soon we were passing more construction areas. Workers were waving arms and flags and yelling, "Hey lady, get off the road!," etc., but she continued. 

I was in the way-back of the station wagon and mortified they were yelling at us but couldn't duck out of sight. I was also petrified she would drive over an incomplete overpass and we'd all plunge to our deaths. 

Between construction areas there were stretches of wide-open freeway and no other vehicles in sight. That part of the ride was cool. The concrete was pristine white and the road was so wide, we were all kind of in awe.  

No one ever chased or stopped her. Thank goodness the Kirby exit ramp was complete. We made it to Astroworld in very quick time. 

Volunteers plant Thomas Bell Foster Park's new wetland. (Houston Parks Board) 
URBAN ALMANAC: FORGET GROUNDHOGS. CELEBRATE WETLANDS.

Groundhog Day makes no sense in Houston. Groundhogs don’t live this far south, and besides, who cares whether some Philadelphia woodchuck sees its shadow? There’s no way that our winter will last six more weeks.

World Wetlands Day, which is also Feb. 2, fits Houston better. In particular, consider celebrating the acre of new wetlands at Thomas Bell Foster Park, between I-10 and Greens Bayou in east Houston. In a natural low spot dug just a bit deeper, volunteers recently planted hundreds of native plants, creating habitat for dragonflies and wading birds. Plus, those plants also fight air and water pollution. They’re way better than Punxatawney Whatever-Its-Name-Is.

😬 CHATTER: DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

In yesterday’s newsletter, I mangled artist Salle Werner-Vaughn’s last name. And to make matters worse, it was in boldface that way. Thanks to Susan Chadwick for pointing that out.

Also yesterday – it was a long day – weird spacing made it look as though a paragraph in italics might apply to a whole group of useful election resources, and not just the item above it. And that might have given you the very wrong idea that the League of Women Voters’ Vote 411 only has information about Democrats. In point of fact, the League is thoroughly nonpartisan, and its questionnaires are open to Republicans, Democrats and anyone else who’s running. Plus, points out City Cast reader Judith Oppenheim, “You will find information in not only in English, but also Spanish, Vietnamese, and Mandarin.”

💘 LOVE, HOUSTON-STYLE
For Valentine's Day, we're looking for very Houston love stories. Did you meet when she rear-ended your car on Richmond? On your first date, did he drive you around Fifth Ward in a slab? Do you still have your Chavez High prom photo?

Tell us about it! Email us: houston@citycast.fm.

Or call our voicemail: 713-489-6972. Tell us who you are, then tell us your story!
Did someone forward you this email?  📧 Click here to subscribe!

Follow us on social! 👇 We're in the way-back of the station wagon.
Twitter
Website
Facebook
Copyright © 2022 City Cast. All rights reserved.
It's okay, we won't be going very far.

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.