Maureen McCollum

Ron Paul in 2009 - "What if our foreign policy is deeply flawed and has not served our national security interests?"

@Omphalophopic @NC_Matthews @NPR Futures traders are not (necessarily) oil and gas people-being portrayed as the bad guys here. They (futures) manipulate the market and we’re left to look like the greedy SOBs. We actually produce the commodity. We work our asses off 2 drill economic wells

@MoMoneeMoProbs @NC_Matthews @NPR They were driving up prices trading higher and higher on futures. When they say demand drove up prices they mean that people were in desperate need and so the gas companies figured they could cash in

A drilling company that operates in Texas and Louisiana told investors that the surge in natural gas prices — amid powerful winter storms — was giving it a major financial boost. "Obviously, this week is like hitting the jackpot," CFO Roland Burns said. trib.al/U5p2Sd2

@_jmc21 @PhilNotPhil @DeanMiller1978 @VapidJason @NPR That’s just rude. Great for you, but do you realize NE Arkansas is much more prepared for winter weather than most of Texas? You absolutely don’t get the “same things Dallas gets”. Not EVEN CLOSE longitudinally. C’mon, Josh. Don’t hate on our neighbors

@diasfordays @VapidJason @NPR El Paso is much more southern longitudinally than the Dallas/Fort Worth. Privately owned or not, who in Texas considered “winterizing“ to mean a subzero temps over 10 days? I’m just saying why do we have blame? Why not just accept no one saw this coming?

@MoMoneeMoProbs @VapidJason @NPR You're being willfully ignorant. How come El Paso wasn't hit as hard as the rest of TX? Because they aren't on the oh-so-great Texas electric grid. "Even the turbines weren't ready" Because the privately owned industry in its deregulated glory skimped out on winterizing them.

@Apothegmata @VapidJason @NPR OMG, am I the only southerner who’s heard of such technology? I think not, but it’s once on a hundred years storm so let’s blame anyone we can except the weather

@Apothegmata @VapidJason @NPR In areas of the US that deal with sub-zero weather, millions of $$ are spent on infrastructure like snow plows, sand and salt distribution and building heated bridges and overpasses. But NOT IN TEXAS. Not economically feasible.

@Icepick87 @NPR The energy companies don’t control the prices. Natural gas is a commodity, which has barely moved since the winter storm. No one is making trillions off of this in the industry. I’m not defending billionaires, especially when they say dumb things like that

@MoMoneeMoProbs @NPR Considering the pandemic, that more people had gone unemployed than usual, yet the CEO billionaires now got trillions in this economy, I'm gonna have to call your bluff on this one and say bullshit. The energy companies jacked up the bills. The CEOs only profit.

@NC_Matthews @NPR Horrible things like supplying heat, electricity, fuel for our cars and airplanes? Every piece of synthetic material? If you don’t use any of those things, Neil then you’re supporting the industry, too (and being a hypocrite)

@MoMoneeMoProbs @NPR Presume you can follow the logic here: The fact that lots of people have held down good jobs for companies doing horrible things doesn't make those things less horrible.

@charleswj81 @VapidJason @NPR I’ve been a petroleum geologist for 20 years & am shocked by the misinformation in the press this week. I’m not a fan of CEOs and the dumb shit they say but that’s not the story here. It’s just crappy weather, but old man winter doesn’t make for news fodder

@charleswj81 @VapidJason @NPR 2/2 and honestly, In the O&G industry right now, “jackpot” means maybe hiring back staff that you had to lay off before winter. And believe me, Texans will feel that the most. This is not “big oil“, these are mom and pop operators barely scraping by.

@charleswj81 @VapidJason @NPR 1/2 I definitely see your point. But what they also don’t point out is that gas marketing contracts have been signed long ago and operators are selling gas most likely at a much lower hedged rate than current market prices.

@charleswj81 @VapidJason @NPR 2/2 And the stock in the company Jones controls (CRK) has only gone from $6.02 to $4.98/share. They are not raking in millions while people freeze to death. This story is so ridiculously sensationalized and slanted, I’m ashamed to be an NPR supporter.

@charleswj81 @VapidJason @NPR 1/2 I’m pointing out that the story is BS. Price gouging? Where? Gas futures are a commodity driven by supply and demand, but since Feb 9, as the storm began, gas prices have gone from $2.91 to $3.08 an mcf. Barely moved.

@VapidJason @NPR How about we have an adult discussion without making snide comments like “educate yourself”? I can guarantee you, I know exactly what. The. Fuck. I’m talking about.

@VapidJason @NPR It is absolutely not happening only in TX. It’s a 15-state Midwest situation which I KNOW PERSONALLY because I am in it now. Antarctic windmills were built for that weather. Which is exactly why the TX infrastructure is not built to deal with the sub-0 temps

@VapidJason @NPR I’m really disappointed that NPR would try to make the energy industry the enemy in this situation. The subzero temperatures that froze windmills also froze gas pipelines. It’s not a political situation, it’s a weather situation.

@AOC I incurred a lot of student loan debt to go to college and earn a lucrative career where I could afford to save money and pay for my son to go to college debt-free. I’m still paying on my student loans. This is not just a Gen Z problem

Very wealthy people already have a student loan forgiveness program. It’s called their parents. The idea that millionaires and billionaires are willingly letting their kids drown in federal student loans & that’s why we can’t go big on forgiveness is about as silly as it sounds.