Herald hits Houston, blames Texans for natural disaster

The Sydney Morning Herald’s environment editor Peter Hannam writes on Tropical Storm Harvey, yesterday:

Yes, Houston, you do have a problem, and — as insensitive as it seems to bring it up just now — some of it is your own making.

Hannam makes Donald Trump look like the epitome of empathy with that statement. The US President in Washington, yesterday:

In the middle of a hurricane, even though it was Friday evening, I assumed the ratings (for the news he had pardoned convicted former sheriff Joe Arpaio) would be far higher than they would be normally.

Hannam tries to soften the blow. The Sydney Morning Herald, yesterday:

Let’s be clear upfront. I unreservedly wish that all of your millions of citizens get safely through Tropical Storm Harvey, and the biblical-scale deluge and floods that are forecast to swamp your city in coming days.

Good on you, Peter. We’re sure Texans really appreciate that. The Australian, yesterday:

Several deaths have been reported, and over half a million people have been displaced by historic flooding. The Houston area has seen as much as 76cm of rain in recent days …

So why do the Texans deserve devastating floods? Oh, you know the answer. Hannam in the Herald, yesterday:

… as the self-styled “world capital of the oil and gas industry”, there’s a connection between rising global greenhouse gas levels and the extreme weather now being inflicted that some of your residents have understood for decades and had a hand in.

Never mind that Texas’s oil and gas industry is a pot of gold for the American people. Houston Chronicle, April 19, 2014:

Texas has about $140 billion in “petro-wealth”, with corporations owning 80 per cent of that total, according to an analysis by an Austin firm.

And that it’s basically keeping the state government afloat. The Dallas Morning News, February 21:

Oil and gas pumped $9.4bn into government budgets through taxes and royalties in 2016. That adds up to $26 million each day …

But those nasty little Texans had it coming. Hannam in the Herald, yesterday:

Given its unusual dependence on fossil-fuel industries … it will be interesting to watch if Houston queries — tactfully and delicately — its own contribution to the catastrophe.

Many Texans have jobs due to oil and gas. Houston Chronicle, June 6:

Oil companies across Texas expanded payrolls by about 12,000 jobs in the six months through April … The gain pushed the number of oil and gas jobs in the state to about 205,000 …

If only voters weren’t so stupid, huh? Hannam in the Herald, yesterday:

By stoking doubts about the climate change consequences of burning fossils, the behemoth misled voters for four decades, successfully stymieing demands for action in the US and abroad, including in Australia.

Maybe it’s all that economic growth that gets oil and gas voters’ support … The New York Times, Monday:

The area has a large and growing population and attracts continuous investment in oil-related manufacturing. It is also an important cog in global trade. Texas accounts for about half of petroleum and gas exports …