As we watch most of the country being taken over by this polar vortex, we ponder whether climate change has anything to do with it, and if these extreme events will be more likely to happen in the future. We are transfixed at images coming from Texas, where the deep freeze took a hold of most of a state not used to it, and certainly not prepared for it. We hear about the energy outages, what caused them (and what didn’t), and what should be done to prepare for the next deep freeze.

However, when we think of that, the perspectives of people who are living through it all are an important component of the story that needs to be told.

My colleague Maegan Ramirez hails from El Paso and had a lot to say about the situation in Texas. I figured we should hear it in her own voice. Read more >