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Precipitated by an unusual winter storm, the 2021 Texas Power Crisis lasted February 10 to 27 leaving millions of customers without power. Such large-scale outages can have severe health consequences, especially among vulnerable subpopulations such as those reliant on electricity to power medical equipment, but limited studies have evaluated sociodemographic disparities associated with outages.To characterize the 2021 Texas Power Crisis in relation to distribution, duration, preparedness, and issues of environmental justice.We used hourly Texas-wide county-level power outage data to estimate geographic clustering and association between outage exposure (distribution and duration) and six measures of racial, social, political, and/or medical vulnerability: Black and Hispanic populations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), Medicare electricity-dependent durable medical equipment (DME) usage, nursing homes, and hospitals. To examine individual-level experience and preparedness, we used a preexisting and non-representative internet survey.At the peak of the Texas Power Crisis, nearly 1/3 of customers statewide (N = 4,011,776 households/businesses) lost power. We identified multiple counties that faced a dual burden of racial/social/medical vulnerability and power outage exposure, after accounting for multiple comparisons. County-level spatial analyses indicated that counties where more Hispanic residents resided tended to endure more severe outages (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.40). We did not observe socioeconomic or medical disparities. With individual-level survey data among 1038 respondents, we found that Black respondents were more likely to report outages lasting 24+ hours and that younger individuals and those with lower educational attainment were less likely to be prepared for outages.Power outages can be deadly, and medically vulnerable, socioeconomically vulnerable, and marginalized groups may be disproportionately impacted or less prepared. Climate and energy policy must equitably address power outages, future grid improvements, and disaster preparedness and management.

At the time of writing, the reach of #MeToo continues unfolding. Frank revelations about experiences of sexual harassment and sexual assault reach well into the academic sphere, with stories emergi...

This commentary serves as an introduction for the planning academe about Asian Americans and how an understanding of their racialization can contribute to anti-racist frameworks in planning. Asian Americans are a unique group comprised of diverse communities with a long history in the country. Yet, most research about Asian Americans exists outside of mainstream planning scholarship. Asian Americans offer several insights for planning, including how to contend with intragroup and intergroup differences, how racialization upholds white supremacy, and how to document histories of activism. We end with recommendations to rethink diversity and racial climate in the field.

Street harassment is a gender-based injustice experienced in public spaces. In this research, I draw on feminist perspectives and explore the stages of social movements to study how social media platform Twitter is used to share and process experiences with street harassment, pass along resources and media about street harassment, and to engage in anti-street harassment organizing and movement building activities. I detail a qualitative approach to social media research, introduce the concept of listening in Twitter-based research, and conclude with ideas for future research.