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The Uncomfortable Politics of Climate Change

The Texas Capitol is surrounded by snow on Feb. 15 in Austin.

The Texas Capitol is surrounded by snow on Feb. 15 in Austin.

Photographer: Montinique Monroe/Getty Images North America

Snow and ice in Houston; temperatures of minus 17 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) in Dallas: Texas is built for summer heat, not this kind of winter freeze.

About 4.8 million homes lost power in Texas and a swathe of states from Louisiana to Ohio. Mexico blamed the U.S. for almost 5 million blackouts in the country’s north.