Texas has been gripped by devastating winter storms for much of the last week, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power, water or even heat. You’ve seen the news stories and the viral videos. People desperate for help as burst frozen pipes send water cascading through their homes. Men and women waiting in long lines in frigid temps to buy gasoline or propane. Fast food workers collapsed in exhaustion after trying to do what they can to feed people.
There’s nothing short of a humanitarian crisis happening in Texas. The cumulative failure of the state’s power grid, supply lines and breakdown of basic government services means thousands have been cold, tired and hungry for days.
People wait in line to fill propane tanks Wednesday in Houston.
Customers waited over an hour in freezing rain.
Millions in Texas still had no power after a historic snowfall and single-digit temperatures created a surge of demand for electricity.
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— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 18, 2021
Still, the resultant human suffering has been a boon to some, like Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who is a majority share holder in natural gas company Comstock Resources Inc. The increased demand for heating has sent a massive surge in prices for fuel, which means an already rich man just got much richer. On a conference call with investors on Wednesday, Comstock President and Chief Financial Officer Roland Burns boasted about the company’s financial gains.
“This week is like hitting the jackpot with some of these incredible prices,” Burns said. “Frankly, we were able to sell at super premium prices for a material amount of production.”
Extreme (for Texas) winter weather has forced other plants to shut while demand for power and fuel, has skyrocketed. Jones’ gas company, which was able to stay running, has been able to sell at a huge increase, profiting off of the misery of millions who will likely see exorbitant bills for basic needs.
Heating shouldn’t be a luxury and yet, while millions are struggling to say warm, a handful of people, Jones chief among them, are gleefully rubbing their hands over more money lining their pockets.
It’s disgusting, but hey, that’s capitalism.
Anyway, think about this the next time there’s a news story about how much Jones or the Cowboys donate to charitable causes. The truth is that whatever money Jones gives away will always be a small fraction of what he actually has, and the money he does have comes from the undue suffering of millions.