By Phil Hardgrave, Lagunitas

Phil Hardgrave is a former Texas resident.

Re “Post-pandemic California: Comeback or decline?”; Commentary, Dan Walters, Oct. 17, 2021

Perhaps Dan Walters doesn’t follow Texas news in his column, which made the extraordinary claim that the Texas power grid is much more reliable than California’s. Has he forgotten the catastrophic collapse of the power grid statewide during last winter’s cold snap, which shut down the state for weeks and resulted in many deaths and billions of dollars in losses? The ultimate cause of this disaster was the isolation of the Texas power system, which is unable to receive outside energy during emergencies — designed that way in order to avoid federal regulation and cooperation with neighboring states. His comments attacked California, but as one who left Texas to escape the tyranny of the right, I would remind him that the American people do not want neglect of infrastructure, denial of health care or a cash bounty on anyone who helps a rape victim obtain a safe abortion.