Are you suggesting that the vast ghettoes and low-income areas in Houston all install solar panels and Tesla Powerwalls? Many people in hardest-hit areas struggle paycheck to paycheck- if they're working at all.
This is what financialization is for -- allowing homeowners to get "free" panels in exchange for paying back out of the savings over the years. Leasing panels is not uncommon.
If these kinds of services don't exist in enough quantity, government subsidy could help.
More government money going directly over the people who most need it into the hands of the people who least need it. The property owner class redirects another crisis to their benefit.
The landlord could put panels on it, and pass the lease fee on, and advertise the house as, eg "$1000 a month plus $100 FLAT FEE ELECTRICAL! You never pay more than $100 per month for electric AND IT'S STEPS AWAY FROM EVERYTHING" or some such
No I do not. I was not aware of the vast ghettoes. But some kind of middle class has to exist as the article headline talks about air conditioning - in Germany air conditioning is not common even in the upper middle class - this may be different in the US - idk.
Germany is way farther north though. Houston is further south than Israel, about the same latitude as Kuwait City and the Sahara Desert. The temperature averages 20-30°F warmer than Berlin (33-40°C), or put another way, Berlin's record high temperatures are a typical day in Houston. Also very humid since it's right near the ocean. Comparison charts:https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/9247~75981/Comparison-of-...
So yes, air conditioning is very common there, even if you're poor that's one thing you will try to find a way to get.
In the ghettos it's normally an old window unit, not central AC. Also shotgun shacks, which are houses setup with a straight-through floorplan so that if you open the front and back doors the whole thing becomes kind of a wind tunnel. Not as good as AC, but better than nothing.
In those neighborhoods, you'll also often see people (especially elderly and children) hanging out at the neighborhood church or mom and pop store, where there is air conditioning, if they don't have AC or it isn't working.
“Vast ghetto” is a bit extreme but a lot of the gulf coast is very poor indeed. Texas has plenty of very poor neighborhoods as does Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida right in prime hurricane paths.
