“It’s very weird to have a guy whose first job was at his father’s law firm and inherited the governorship from his father to criticize my origin story.”

Houston Police Department Interim Police Chief Larry Satterwhite, regarding comments by Council Member Edward Pollard that lives could have been saved if the city had been more prepared ahead of Hurricane Beryl. Pollard said that his comments were “solely focused on the logistics of mobilizing our officers a day earlier to ensure their safety and readiness.” Houston Mayor John Whitmire also defended his city’s response and has previously chided CenterPoint energy for their slow restoration of power to thousands of residents. (Houston Chronicle — July 22, 2024)

U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert, regarding her July 12 decision to grant a preliminary injunction that was sought by The Bail Project, a national nonprofit that aids thousands of low-income people behind bars. Calvert ruled that a new Georgia state law that limited people and organizations from posting more than three cash bonds in a year unless they met extensive requirements to become bail bond companies is essentially arbitrary. After Calvert’s ruling, The Bail Project reopened its doors in Atlanta on Monday, July 22. (Associated Press — July 22, 2024)

Brian Davis, general manger of the Linda County Water District in Yuba County, Calif., regarding the state’s next phase of water conservation. Of a dozen water systems projected to face cuts of 40 percent or more over the next 15 years, seven are located in the state’s Central Valley. Linda County Water District will need to cut an estimated 43 percent by 2040. (CalMatters — July 29, 2024)

Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas at Austin, on a derecho that slammed the Houston region in May with 100 mph winds, knocking out power for nearly 1 million customers. City officials, residents and utility companies were still trying to recover from the damage from that storm when Hurricane Beryl hit in July, knocking out power to more than 2.6 million customers and showing how vulnerable the Southeast Texas grid’s infrastructure is to high winds. (Texas Tribune — July 18, 2024)