The Power Grid: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

John Oliver discusses the current state of the nation’s power grid, why it needs fixing, and, of course, how fun balloons are.
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[@carligirrl]

“Don’t make your problem, my problem” is the most American attitude ever and the reason why we have so many unsolved issues today.

[@desktopdesign7196]

You mean you should help each other? Act social? You're not communists, are you?!

[@candacen7779]

It isn't actually. Americans help each other every day. That guy's comment could have -- and probably has been -- said by any citizen in any country anywhere in the world. People like that exist everywhere. And America is known for coming together to help others, especially in times of crisis, more than folks in other nations.

[@madpoetsociety2917]

@@candacen7779 Clearly not anymore. Watching Faux news isn't helping you.

[@candacen7779]

@@madpoetsociety2917 What are talking about? I don't watch Fox News, sweetie. And obviously it's not clear since you don't seem to notice all the poor and working class people out here helping one another every day.

[@stadoblech]

@@desktopdesign7196 its funny because americans are blabbering about community this and community that all the time but second you mention universal health care or parental leave you are marked as evil communist

[@cullermann2]

I will never understand how the US is spending a ridiculous amount of money on its defense but lets stuff like the electric infrastructure be this dated and prone to failures.

[@jamesrutherford1475]

It's almost like it's intentional...

[@HowToChangeName]

Because the so-called innovation of capitalism is actually on "efficiency" to do bare minimum

[@rock-n-rollfoodie]

Money

[@TheNewblade1]

John pretty much said it. It's the republican party. I guarantee that grassroots movements was backed by right wing organizations.

[@heyho4770]

One could argue that US military hegemony has led to 75 years of Peace and Prosperity in the West. And now with China having its window of opportunity to to challenge that it might be unwise to cut funding now. That Ship has sailed between 1990 and 2010

[@thatoneguywiththevoice328]

So apparently "DON'T TOUCH THE THERMOSTAT" is a father tradition since the invention of the device

[@astralminstrel]

This is kinda off topic, but that “home on electric” commercial finally explained my grandpa’s rabid insistence that no one touch the thermostat. It was a mystery I didn’t know I needed solving.

[@dc1842]

You dont touch the thermostat because men all men can tell if the tempature changes by a degree and it immediately makes us uncomfortable I dunno why we are so sensitive to temperature but we are and if it's outside our control we deal with it silently like men but when it's your home your laying the bills and ultimately in charge there is no way in hell anyone mother wife child is going to make us uncomfortable in our own paid for area lol that is why your grandad was insistent.

[@astralminstrel]

@@dc1842 Sure, that's understandable. If you pay the bills, you control the heating system. Thing is, I pay the bills. Grandpa always complained that he was too cold. Then he'd get furiously angry that I touched the thermostat. Even if he just asked me to turn up the heat. He had dementia, so his actions sometimes didn't make logical sense. The thing about guys being more sensitive to temperature is debatable. Everyone feels too cold or too warm for different reasons. It's not really a gender thing.

[@dc1842]

@@astralminstrel well if he's old and feeling cold or young and feeling too cold more than likely an issue woth circulation when your older but when your younger which I assume your grandad was when he was moaning About the thermostat in your memory and still fairly young I can imagine he did sense it. I know when there's a change in my environment very quickly and it's a stereotype so it has to be popular enough to be a stereotype

[@Jackassik]

In my case I don't like when somebody touches the termostat is because my wife will feel a bit cold in the morning so she will turn it up, and then when the sun comes out you have to open all the windows because it's too hot, letting all that money wasted on heating it up out the windows. Or if you have floor heating then changing the termostat won't do anything for the next 12 hours because it takes time. When I take care of the temperature in the house, I monitor the average in-house temperature, and the weather forecasts for the next couple days and set it up so we don't sweat during the day and freeze at night and we don't dramatically overspend on the bills. If I let people touch termostat, they will be unhappy with the results. Like letting a person, who doesn't know how to drive, to drive a car. They will have a bad time, it will be a rough drive and in the end they will say that my car is crap because it doesn't do what they want it to do - because they don't know how to operate it.

[@Sinoops]

@@dc1842 Men are not any more sensitive to temperature change than women are. You're making that shit up.

[@TenTonNuke]

Ah, yes. I remember that famous JFK quote: "Ask me not what I can do for my country, because that shit ain't my problem, man."

[@raycearcher5794]

"Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago? Well, I don't give a shit."

[@mexuscentral]

More than a century later after Tesla died, and the corporate media aka HBO, continues to repeat lies and propaganda about him to trash his image, just because he wanted to provide free wireless electricity for everyone, but Edison (a crook) and corrupt friends, didn't want that.

[@dustrose8101]

@@thekaren1111 That was less about global warming and more about stopping our planet from becoming a horrible plastic hellscape where all living things were choked or poisoned to death. There is some point where ordinary citizens should think of the bigger picture because not everything hangs off the backs of corporations like it does with climate change.

[@amberleeannalee1999]

@@mexuscentral Elon musk would be working in a gas station if our fed government didn’t bail him out and give him millions to get his business up and running. He’s also ensuring there is no real competition to his company or he’d lose billions. Poor guy couldn’t sell trips to space if he had to put taxes. Give me a break. Stop being daft and defending an overly rich a hole that could solve all of our infrastructure problem if he wanted. If the 15 richest Americans paid taxes equal to a full time worker we’d be evolved to 2021 in every way. Y’all demonize China but they invested a huge percentage of their GDP on infrastructure including their grid. That’s why they are so far advanced in every way over Murica. We are a joke on a mass delusion pretending we are #1. Only in guns per capita, mass shootings, school shootings, gun deaths, police killings, and incarceration of people

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

"We choose let powerlines go boom in this decade and do the other things. Not because it is easy for me, but because it is hard for you. Because that goal will serve to stick it to you libs and throw away the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are unwilling to accept, one we are willing to postpone, and one we intend to lose." - Also not JFK

[@lanigirognithemos]

Maybe you can make a specific team designed to repair the grid and call them the Power Rangers :)

[@fuji-t]

Underrated comment!!

[@deiondremartinez8522]

Best comment under this video 🙌🏿

[@theladoflads7884]

The smile after the comment makes me so happy

[@wavey-davey]

Thank you for being you

[@coreywall5438]

I appreciate you so much for that hahahahahah....Wild Force for lifeeeee

[@brandondavidson4085]

Funny how oil companies don't have to jump through these legal hoops when they're cutting through Native reservations and federal land

[@aliceahueman3005]

It's outright ridiculous that white people be like yeah you can have that land then white people do the "Indian giving" and take it back. It's absolutely ridiculous. A friend of mine recently befriended a native and he recently became dehomed for that exact reason. I've now taken it upon myself to help my friend come up with things to send him because of the white man being like I know you've lived here your entire life but it's apparently still my manifest destiny to take this land. I'm very close to scalping passive racist white people. I hate how cruel we are to one another.

[@RandoBurner]

Have you ever considered that the natives want them to because they are paid?

[@littleark]

And they receive 20 billion in direct subsidies every year.

[@aribantala]

@@RandoBurner Lemme play with basic common sense here in a form of a simplified dialogue A: Hey B, I am sorry but you need to move out from your room, we need it to expand the Kitchen. B: No way, where do I move from my room? I have stayed here since my childhood A: Well, you can go to the Toolshed... Plenty of space there B: The Toolshed? Really? That place has no power outlet, no air conditioning, no heating, no window, and no bathroom; not only that, it's full of Mosquitos, plagued with rats and raccoons, and as structurally sound as a deck of cards... Heck, that place is filled with your tools that only you can use! How do I suppose to live there?! A: Here's fifteen bucks for you to get whatever you need to live there... I'll give you monthly if you moved there B: WHAT??? Fifteen bucks?? What do I do with this? I need to get heater, Air cooler, And even more stuff to make the Toolshed barely livable... And you gave me Fifteen bucks? A: What more do I need to give? Either live there and take the money or get out from the house! Oh also, We will also need to pass the Gas line for our new kitchen from the Toolshed as well... You can't complain tho, you got fifteen bucks Have fun with that analogy...

[@g.d.graham2446]

Indeed

[@Civerius]

My uncle was actually a police officer on duty inside a court room when lights went out once in outside of dallas, he said 'as soon as the lights went out, the guns came out'. Which, sounds like an overall fun night for everyone doesn't it?

[@H0uxdubxston]

Ah yes. Court rooms that famously don't have metal detectors when you enter. I totally believe this

[@MsBean02]

​@@H0uxdubxstonI think they mean the police in the courtroom take their guns out.

[@TreyDoe]

“Don’t make their problem our problem” America in a nutshell

[@AntonAdelson]

Where psychotic egoism is a virtue!

[@eldiablo1000]

The goal is always to make them care before it becomes their problem too...but its hard to change anyone's mind these days before its too late, and the problem has grown exponentially...

[@cy-one]

I mean, wouldn't "America in a nutshell" be more like "Let's make our problems their problems?"

[@TreyDoe]

@@cy-one I guess u could say that too

[@cy-one]

@@TreyDoe I mean, a big part of the issues in the Middle East are caused by the US directly and indirectly. Same goes for the refugee crisis in Europe.

[@alisonselje2809]

"the man's pride of the house, the weather center" ah yes, the original 'hands off my thermostat' dad

[@amyes4570]

Precursor to the TV remote

[@duroxkilo]

i swear my dad can sense when i touch the thermostat even though i live 3 states to the west... ring-ring, you guys having a hot day over there, how's life?

[@gt-bz7zw]

Dude. Think of how many little pieces of life that we think are just “how it goes” that was based off those American/nuclear family informational propaganda movies. Our great-grandparents (or older) spent their school years watching those. Movies about why your credit score is important, how men and women are supposed to interact, how dating is supposed to progress, how a family should look and act. It’s fucking wild to think about.

[@joellahrman4557]

That apartment looked pretty sweet though, I'd rather be living there than the dump I bought.

[@andrewkeller1117]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5fVXnx4nq9mitU

[@Admiral137]

Reminds me of the incident with two linemen from Comcast. One died and the other severely injured to the point of amputation. There was a fault in the pole that Comed knew about since the 60s and that day Comcast linemen were up there working it decided to fail completely and sent massive amounts of voltage through the guy in the bucket. The man at the bottom managed to call the police and was alive when they arrived, sadly he didn’t realize a line came down and activated the truck. He touched it and was shot across the street and burst into a ball of flames. State of Illinois jumped on Comed for that before Comcast could even get the team ready. We got to learn that during our safety training.

[@mattlogue1300]

Sad

[@jv-lk7bc]

negligent

[@immortalsun]

‘While things are bad now, they could get a lot worse in the future.’ That should be this show’s motto.

[@cerebraldreams4738]

"Return on investment" needs to start being chanted to defense contractors. "OK, I get you're selling these fighter jets for 52 million. What do Americans get out of this besides a fancy jet, and an excuse to kill people?"

[@ForrestFox626]

But defense spending... Will sadly be the response

[@shobvious]

This.

[@strangeonexd4776]

@@Xeretov Yet in all these nations where these conflicts pop up, you don’t exactly see M4’s and US armored and air assets. These nations use, surprise surprise, Cold War surplus. AK’s, Migs, ect ect. If we are the world’s armory, we are doing a pretty shitty job of it.

[@strangeonexd4776]

@@Xeretov Fair enough. Lmao.

[@7StarsMA]

@@Xeretov nobody asked the US to do that....... you may want to check how profitable war is and see the real reason.

[@Ecclesia_]

The Iceland model 'Land of Giants' as power lines actually impressed me. Imagine seeing those huge statues all over the country, holding up our power lines, as if those giants are helping us keeping our world powered :O

[@macrumpton]

They could have a huge variety of designs, Dancers, animals, trees, words, , the possibilities are endless. There was an era when public works had to have some aesthetic value. Lets do that again.

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

*Supresses Attack on Titan flashbacks* Those do look incredible!

[@AdamBechtol]

ya

[@anakinslucien7193]

No, they reminds me of those titans in attack on titans

[@ravenecho2410]

@@macrumpton i like triangles, but some cleaning of the shape could be nice

[@mitchcook4199]

I’m a Lineman In Canada and it’s all the same up here working on Transmission lines is also extremely dangerous wether it be high voltage, high tensions, or extreme heights people really take for granted the amount of work lineman actually do to keep the grid going literally at all times. One solution would be maybe to make trades jobs including power line technicians/lineman same same more noticed, more public recognition maybe. I’ve been in the line trade for many years now and all I can say is it’s very hard work but also extremely rewarding as well but also if you come out of your house because I turned your power off to do regular maintenance or if an external force turned your power off and I’m working sometimes 22 hours day and night to get it back and you come out and ask what the fuck is taking so long cuz you can’t watch fucken americas got talent I will be taking much longer afterwards.

[@jayceewedmak9524]

Don't know where you are but I've had power outages and went through the ice storm that hit Southeastern Ontario. Wherever you are, thank you for your amazing skills! 👏 👏 👏 😊

[@acebaker3623]

Man, I come from a family of electricians, regular and high voltage workers, and I know that you guys are taking risks every day to keep that power flowing. Very much appreciated by me and mine here in BC! Thanks!

[@pt7181]

Cheers from Bulgaria :) i worked as an ISP technician for some years, we also 'reward' the annoying, not respecting customers like you do in Canada!!

[@pt7181]

Forgot to say I am also thankful for what you do, it should go without saying! I sometimes even went to fix a neighbours' connection outside of working hours because i genuinely care for people, and still when you call them for help half of them wouldnt bother.. However the other half would respond in a kind way ... Because of those people i enjoyed this kind of work. I bet your heighbours call you if they have some sort of power issues :) Also you work with very high currents which makes your job constant danger, and your sacrifice is incomprehensible for most people, i can imagine :)

[@waynerenolds3955]

you better be on some adderall if youre working 22 hrs straight on god damn electrical shit wtaf...

[@abbysomnia624]

The balloon explosion at the end was perfect and John's reaction was incredible. Thank you

[@snowangelnc]

"Mr. Johnson, would you mind letting us know your current salary?" "About a hundred seventy thousand a year, but why do you-" "What is the return of our investment?" "Well, the work I do in Congress to represent-" "I didn't ask what you do. I'm asking you what is the return of our investment?" "Well if you let me finish, the bills I've helped pass have-" "It's a simple question sir. Just say the number in dollars and cents. What is the return of our investment?"

[@halcyon_echo42]

It's almost like the term "public service" is lost on actual public servants, elected into office by the public for the improvement of public life.

[@lifesignjohnson]

Congress people should have term limits

[@stompbot272]

Return on investment was a legitimate point! We the people foot the bill while energy companies continuously raise rates. What Mr. Johnson was getting at was a rate cap but that doesn't fit the narrative. As for the expansion of the power grid, John glossed over the obvious answer. Build along side railroads and freeways. Everything else was just filler material. Yawn. No mention of Thorium reactors?!?

[@TheTony024]

@@halcyon_echo42 I find it scary that Republicans claim they are for the people yet mostly work to be in favor with only one little man. It feels like the Republican party is all about themselves and taking care of their donors. Not the general public and all Americans. It’s sickening what the GOP will stand for yet not do what is right for American.

[@jakobsievers]

Awesome

[@nateweaver3324]

"Don't make your problem my problem." That one quote sums up everything that is wrong with America and why progress has been so hard to come by.

[@flagrarus]

@CalvinV7 If anything, colonialists made their problem, that most of them were the dregs of society back in Europe, the problem of Native Americans by killing them with bioweapons

[@marvinmartion1178]

It's due fox propaganda network! Me,me,me, mindset has been fostered for 40years!

[@alexandercanella4479]

Yet we are one of the most charitable nations on earth. We almost always fall in the top 2 by every group who calculate it.

[@JSErwine]

@@flagrarus The "bioweapons" story is a complete lie.

[@nateweaver3324]

@@SirPatrickMackofMaplethorpe that's not really relevant to the power grid issues, champ

[@SebastianSeanCrow]

18:44 the ROI for me is that maybe my grandma won’t be without power for days on end like with the winter storm in Texas. My ROI is not having the lights flicker when you’re doing laundry, heating your home, and having a couple lights on at once. My ROI is knowing the nearest hospitals, which my area btw is closer to the outer edges of the city (almost to the boonies), won’t be without power needed to literally keep people alive. That’s a great ROI to me.

[@LowellMorgan]

It’s a good thing rural heartland farmers have a solid record of being focused on long-term and big-picture solutions and don’t benefit from federal subsidies or corporate welfare.

[@michaelccozens]

Rural heartland "Red State" farmers have been subsidized by the urbanized "Blue States" they so despise to the tune of hundreds of billions for multiple decades now. Hearing these parasites talk about "don't make your problem my problem" is brain-melting. They would truly rather die than allow reality to puncture their white-supremacist fantasy-land. The question is, are we going to let them take everyone else with them?

[@jackzimmy8461]

@@michaelccozens That’s why it’s infuriating to hear things at right wing rallies like, “Liberals are trying to fund planned parenthood, public healthcare, green energy and new public transport.” Yeah. We’re *trying,* but it’ll never happen, because we have to pick up the tab for Old MacDonald and his hick buddies. States that’d go broke without our tax dollars literally spit on the hands that feed them. When was the last time Mississippi (27% federal tax dependent) or Alaska (28% federal tax dependent) did me a favor?

[@petervanschepen8809]

I mean, your facetious point is valid, but to be fair long term, big picture solutions rarely benefit them anyway. For example, do you know why there are so many dairy farms in California, where there isn't nearly enough water to graze that kind of cattle? Because some idiot numpty in the 1930's decided to scale the federal dairy subsidy (well, the minimum market price guaranteed for milk) by how far away a farm was from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. So California got a rush of dairy farms it couldn't support and Wisconsin lost what was at the time its biggest domestic industry. How's that for a long term big picture.

[@beannathrach2417]

They are subsidised by Food Stamps and other government programs. The purpose of food stamps is to prop up the domestic market so farmers know they will be able sell their harvest, so they can make plans to plant the next year's food. The federal government coerces what we need to ensure the food supply and prevent famine. As bad as food prices might be this winter, there's enough food for every American.

[@waynerenolds3955]

@@petervanschepen8809 considering cali is in the top 10 GDPs in the world i think theyre doig fine

[@smaakjeks]

"Why would I buy food? That's a terrible return on investment." -Bill Johnson

[@crispy3605]

It really is 🤣 Im hungry....

[@LisaBeergutHolst]

"Why would I pay to feed and clothe my children? How much do I make from it?"

[@duroxkilo]

the guy's not stupid, he's getting paid by an old and dirty power plant to act stupid... just so we're clear :} *i'd take a stupid person w/ decent social skills over someone who's acting stupid on purpose any time

[@nilsp9426]

Exactly my thought. But if anyone is a dollarvore (eats dollar bills to stay alive), it is probably Bill Johnson.

[@sociolocomtsac]

@@duroxkilo I used to think the same way, but stupid people create outcomes where nobody wins (i.e. lose-lose outcomes). At least thieves help themselves. Stealing is inevitable; just have to make sure they are doing their job well and don't steal too much.

[@Zeke931]

The US has just been coasting on everything FDR did for 80 years without improving any of it.

[@looseygoosey1349]

and Reagan fucked us.

[@candacen7779]

Exactly. And yet you still have conservatives writing books demonizing him, and insisting that he was the absolute worst. It says something that he was elected 4 times, and conservatives came together to enact term limits on his position because they knew they couldn't beat him on policy alone.

[@tomdavis3038]

Fdr had nothing to do with the interstate system

[@contrawise]

That Rino Eisenhower proposed the Interstate Highway System, got some of it built, and improved the US Highways as well.

[@EB-du3vh]

Yeah Bc prior FDR was what?

[@Cheshirestog]

Love the idea people CHOOSE to live places. A lot of people happen to be born and raised somewhere and can't afford to move anywhere else, nor have support system anywhere else, by support I mean mental support and social, as often financial support isn't likely as those people are also poor. Life is full of forced "choices." It doesn't have to be but that's the way things are run and the end outcome.

[@codymoe4986]

So because a lot of people are born unto a location that they will never be able to leave, that means that no one chooses where they want to live? Try again...

[@user-wh5ir4fo4r]

@@codymoe4986 Did you actually READ their post? "...can't afford to move anywhere else, nor have support system anywhere else..." I had support on the other end so I was able to move to a better situation 2,400 miles away. Some people don't have that and no, they cannot choose another place. They don't need anyone's condemnation. Try again.

[@alteredego6208]

This is when JFK’s quote, “ And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country,” should be embraced by Americans.

[@dwells7747]

These people aren’t pro America

[@waynerenolds3955]

"no." - every republican

[@PenguinLord10]

And would ya look at that? JFK wasn't a republican... odd, that. I thought they were supposed to be the party of the every-man?

[@desertdaisymarie6951]

"Fuck off" - every Republicunt..

[@daemon.mythos]

"I ain't gonna help them if it don't help me." I think that's the most American thing I've heard all week.

[@phuctrinh2589]

Thats freedom

[@alexejfrohlich5869]

i do not want it to sound smart-alecky, but i'd say the most American thing about it is not so much the "if it doesn't help me" but the fact that he doesn't realize that it is for his own good aswell? sorry, don't want to be too harsh but had to point it out.

[@duanebarry2817]

Yeah. I still can't understand why anyone would voluntarily immigrate to the United States. What are those people thinking?

[@gazpachopolice7211]

Helping people is communism.

[@phuctrinh2589]

@@duanebarry2817 democracy and equal opportunity

[@diamondflaw]

9:55 - "You can't just keep something that old in place and expect it to keep working forever" Sounds like a decent description of elected officials right now too.

[@hugodoucet2872]

HA! Well said.

[@dragonsword7370]

Well "working" is an objective term in this case. Lol.

[@susanfarley1332]

Oh, yes!

[@l1nus0nl1neproductions9]

🤔 true, cuz When u elect a ”new” leader over 70 ur not really picking a new president, ur picking a new pope

[@JohnOhkumaThiel]

My wife is from Japan, and we spend much of our life together there. Living in the northeast United States for a decade has turned her into somewhat of a prepper, even when we are in Japan. In the United States, totally justified by only a decade of experience, I keep my car’s tank full all hurricane season, but in Japan, the natural disaster capital of the world, any time one of about twenty-five annual typhoons is on the way, and even in the non-catastrophe season because earthquakes don’t have a season, we have a stockpile of cash, water, non-perishable food, electricity, and of course for me 🍺 Not once, ever, in my over twenty-five year span of experience, hundreds, perhaps thousands of earthquakes, using mainly mass transit, have we experienced even a brown out in Japan. At the most, the trains and buses weren’t on time for a change. --- Slugs though, slugs are smug. --- In the United States, we basically need a Johnny Appleseed of power generation.

[@colechapman3382]

You are talking about a country with 325,000,000 people across thousands of miles compared to Japan, a small country with a small population. There is a difference between Japan and USA. The real question should be why do we have outages when bigger countries like us don’t

[@JohnOhkumaThiel]

@@colechapman3382 : Japan isn't a small country, nor does it have a small population. You're mistaking your bigotry for facts.

[@pywaketpilot]

@@colechapman3382 Japan is hardly small. It's nearly 2000 miles long, and, with 125,000,000 people, it is the 11th most populated country in the world (the US is third, after China and India).

[@JohnOhkumaThiel]

@@pywaketpilot Japan is the size of California. All in all, it's a medium size country physically. Economically and Politically of course it's one of the most powerful countries in the world.

[@alext3811]

That's because East Asian cities actually have decent infrastructure. My grandparents in Taiwan don't have to worry about national disaster, so that's one less thing (considering they're elderly and worried about China invading). Because they're "liberal" where it counts, understanding that skimping on infrastructure at all means taking an arrow to the knee later on. Privatized utilities in the USA only care about shipping the minimum viable product for the highest end price.

[@thestonedabbot9551]

'Don't make your problem my problem' "The modern conservative is engaged in one of philosophy's oldest pasttimes; the search for a higher moral justification for selfishness." - John K Galbraith

[@LisaBeergutHolst]

"I chose to live here, they chose to live there" "I guess we'll just move to where you are then" "Wait what"

[@digheanurag]

More like, I guess you don’t need gas, food, electronics… since that isn’t here either

[@aleatharhea]

Very good points. Also, it's not like they "chose to live there" at a time when these problems are manifested. And I bet good money that that guy "chose where to live" as an accident of birth. His argument is rubbish in so many ways.

[@ladyabaxa]

And those people who chose to live over there do business with people who chose to live over here thus being part of what keeps our economy going and people able to make a living. Ya know, on top of those people over there helping fund things like roads, clean water, insurance pools, disaster recovery, and oh yeah THE ELECTRIC GRID YOU ALL RELY UPON. Argh, that guy had me seeing red. NIMBY in action right there.

[@starventure]

Relax, his hunting license is paid up and he knows all the best places to bury the bodies.

[@CharlesBosse]

@@starventure "this land is my land, this land ain't your land, I got a shotgun, and you ain't got one..."

[@LazarethPrime]

The guy with the mirrored sunglasses is the essence of one of the US collective attitude problems: "fuck you, I got mine"

[@octavianpopescu4776]

I never got this about Americans, how come they have this way of thinking, but at the same time claim they're patriotic. How can you be a patriot and not care about your fellow countrymen?

[@ImoniFatty]

@@octavianpopescu4776 their claim of patriotism is a euphemism for racism/bigotry. These people are the most unpatriotic idiots in the world.

[@daveroche6522]

I reckon the last 15 seconds of that interview weren't recorded - they would have gone something like this - "Ah'm a true-blood American so fuck y'awl. Now ah'm gonna get me a slice o' that there squirrel pah, just made by mah wife/sister". Ugh.

[@thinhvo3893]

@@octavianpopescu4776 they claim of patriotism when it come to everything else that involved foreign. Whether it trade war with China which bankrupt our farmer or increased in military defense but when it come to Public good they said fuck it. Let our road be damn, our electricity age, our Healthcare shit, and our education underfunded but hey at least we got free refil.

[@zoravar.k7904]

@@octavianpopescu4776 they somehow find a way to reconcile their hyper-individualism with their patriotism creating something which is only patriotism in name.

[@firefox5926]

9:35 can i just say that hook deserves a medal .. for serves above and beyond the call of duty for which it was designed

[@travelwithlegs]

Slugs are really cool and interesting critters! I think they deserve kudos for more than just electrical disruption. Maybe they deserve a web special? To quote the great nature show host John Acorn : there ain't nothing wrong with slugs.

[@PRIVATEpastry]

The older I get, the clearer it becomes that most of our divides in this country come down to empathy or the lack thereof.

[@cirkmannzirkel8229]

Exactly. And it's down to a general distribution of traits that make you more or less empathic towards others that we can't really change. But societies can influence it with their general approach to laws and government, and unfortunately, capitalism without proper pricing in of long-term effects tends to favor those who care more for the dime than for the man. And the US is the king of capitalism, so...

[@iamjustkiwi]

Best stated by Mr no backyard power line. So many people refuse to change anything in their lives unless they see a direct, usually financial benefit. That mindset is what's going to doom us all in the end.

[@halcyon_echo42]

It's awfully sad really.

[@chrisprilloisebola]

@@cirkmannzirkel8229 lol blaming capitalism, too funny

[@charleswettish8701]

@@chrisprilloisebola Explain how it's funny. Because it sounds like you think it isn't capitalism the leads to PG&Es deadly decisions. I'll bet you believe in trickle down economics, lmfao!

[@debbieknight8901]

The question I'd have asked Senator Windbag from Ohio is this: What is our ROI on your salary? How exactly are we taxpayers getting a monetary value from what we generously give to you?

[@lucad6649]

BURN. I love it.

[@adunsavior]

That would be asking the wrong question. The corporate lobbyists are getting great ROI from their campaign donations.

[@mrrodriguezHLP]

I wish the Transportation official was a little quicker on her feet, she could've roasted the Congressman: Sir there is no economy without electricity, and there is no growth without a modernized electric grid. I can't predict the monetary benefit to the individual taxpayer but I can promise longer delay will cost them more to replace when it eventually fails.

[@SusanOnTVShows]

I cannot like this comment enough.

[@vidblogger12]

Representative* windbag. Ohio’s senators are Sherrod Brown (D) and Rob Portman (R). Don’t give the windbag more prestige than he deserves.

[@lina9535]

Not gonna lie, the "Good f*ck" had me on the floor laughing in tears 🤣

[@juliedahl1892]

Guys that work on cars or in your house have a saying … If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. They don’t believe in checking it out to see if it’s OK still. That’s why they tell you to inspection your furnace & clean out chimney, clean vents… on & on. But they don’t. Cause a lot of fights here… No maintenance….

[@22lostservice]

(thought that came to my mind about "return on investment") If libraries didn't already exist and someone suggested them in the current USA culture they would be rejected as socialistic propaganda.

[@bishop253]

I bet if we started talking about the return on investment for the military though all suddenly that Congressman from Ohio would change his tune.

[@boxadorsrus5991]

@@bishop253 Does my memory fail me or did America not just lose a tremendously expensive 20-year long war? I'm wondering what our "return on investment" was in that?

[@bishop253]

@@boxadorsrus5991 Not going to get into Afghanistan, because clearly it's a shit show to put it lightly, but the point I was trying to make is that the Congressman's arguments were clearly in bad faith and if the topic was instead the military instead of clean energy, then chances are he wouldn't care that it doesn't have a ROI for taxpayers.

[@candacen7779]

@@boxadorsrus5991 The ROI on Afghanistan was tremendous for the rich who profited off of it.

[@zues9614]

Libraries have existed for thousands of years ,example (library of alexandria) your idea that libraries are somehow socialist, and the fact that libraries wouldn't be created is rather ludicrous in the first place, and you have no statical evidence to back this and probably any of your claims from extensive knowledge of American culture from your bedroom and the interent.

[@scottmwilhelms2437]

I would like Rep. Johnson to detail the monetary ROI that paying his salary gives to the citizens of Ohio. 🤔

[@jessemairose4534]

I mean... There's definitely a return when you pay a clown to show up to a child's birthday party.... I think we are just overpaying the clown 🤣

[@SweetLilWren]

All politicians

[@felinecontrolled]

As an Ohioan the term "sunk cost" comes to mind.

[@heavysystemsinc.]

I know he's enjoying his return on investment for selling out.

[@holycrapchris]

Congressional rep salary: $174k. So as long as Johnson finagled more than $174k of pork barrel spending into his district, it's a positive ROI. For reference, Johnson's district (OH-6) took in $3.8B in federal money in 2017.

[@bongarozani272]

We in South Africa are used to this. We are 15 years into load shedding. We even have a schedule and apps tracking power outages, the stage, the number of hours and so on. This despite building two new coal power plants which at the time said they would help ease the pressure on old power stations.

[@MomokoTuHarumaki]

I remember the Texas Snowstorm. I had to make nests out of blankets for my cats while I stayed with my boyfriend and his parents until my power came back on. I was so sick afterwards from the stress.

[@bbluva20]

Holy shit, the “Land of Giants” idea for power transmissions is awesome. Imagine humans re-discovering those giant metal structures after an apocalypse. Or just wandering around tripping balls and seeing them for the first time.

[@HobbesHobbiton]

Infrastructure shouldn't just be functional, it should be beautiful too!

[@Kaldorey]

@@HobbesHobbiton Completely agree ! When we see what cities look now, with all this purely-functional car-oriented design, we wonder at how great they'll become when we transition past that

[@sdfkjgh]

@Brendan McMahon: Well, _there's_ your first mistake. The moment you let your guard down and think they aren't moving, _that's_ when they start moving in for the kill. Yes, that's right, *_they know your thoughts!_*

[@cy-wren2430]

@@sdfkjgh Don’t blink

[@Gambit22003]

Under ground. It worked out well for Germany. Under ground lines are the way to go, but it's doubtful Congress will ever do it. That idea just makes too much sense. 🙄🤷

[@BackfallGenius]

Welcome to America where no-one bats an eyelid or asks to justify a return on investment for spending $5 billion on 60 fighter jets but will nickel-and-dime every detail in an infrastructure proposal that will greatly benefit the people, the planet, and everyone's quality of life

[@DanielLee-qz1yd]

BUT THE STOCK MARKET

[@autohmae]

And safe bucket loads of money long term, create jobs, etc. etc. I see lots of ROI by investing in infrastructure.

[@marystephens765]

Well said! When oh when will republicans start participating in Congressional activities besides the raising of money and the reception of corporate bribes?

[@TS-ez3rf]

Welcome to America.. A giant fucking fraud. Run by crooks and criminals where your vote doesn’t matter.

[@firefly9838]

Well said my friend. As an American I agree.

[@viddork]

That last spark at the end was magic!

[@Mirelale000]

21:35, I knew where this was heading the moment he mentioned the balloons, and it's still funny 🤣😂🤣🤣😂.

[@mikeballer08]

As an electrical engineer that works on the power grid, it amazes me how old some of the equipment utilities still use. I am proud to be apart of the process to modernize our grid

[@ChantingInTheDark]

Not all heroes wear capes, I hope you get all the funding you need.

[@Lodinn]

Yes, the grid does feel like something from another era... Because it is. In the age of semiconductors and electronics, dealing with power mains feels pretty much like rubbing sticks together to get fire to me, a non-professional...

[@tabethahowell5859]

Would be cool if somwone documented some of the oldest still used today

[@ltjgambrose]

@@tabethahowell5859 I've seen transformers that were built where my grandfather worked when my dad was born (mid-1960s). I think the oldest thing I've seen was probably mid-1950s?

[@animal579]

you got any jobs for a recent EE grad?

[@haraldschuster3067]

Always nice to hear people say "Don't make your problem my problem" while they live in states that are funded by other states because they can't get their stuff together. Hypocrisy is a bit of a sport in some states. Why do you take their money?

[@vexxama]

Not to mention he’s making his problem their problem. They don’t get electricity because he just doesn’t want to look at them

[@ShopFloorMonkey]

Did someone say Rand Paul?!!

[@Sewblon]

They take money from those other states for 2 reasons: 1. The states have constitutional mandates to balance their budgets. So for them, getting money isn't an option. They just have to accept wherever it comes from for the most part. 2. Because taxation is progressive in America, and the Fed's biggest programs are for the aged and the poor, social security, medicare, and medicaid. So the states that end up being the biggest net recipients of federal dollars are the states with the oldest and poorest inhabitants. So what is your point?

[@haraldschuster3067]

@@Sewblon - The point is why those red states just happen to be the home of the poorest for decades on end. It might, wild speculation here I agree, have something to do with who they vote for. And your "they just have to accept" is downright ridiculous. They might make an effort, you know?! Bavaria here in Germany used to be the poorest and most backward state, subsiding heavily on federal support. Nowadays they are paying into the pot, not taking out of it. So if you do your thing right, you can get out of that ditch.

[@Sewblon]

@@haraldschuster3067 1. "The point is why those red states just happen to be the home of the poorest for decades on end. It might, wild speculation here I agree, have something to do with who they vote for." There is an intuitive appeal to that point. But lots of poor people end up in red states because they can't afford to live in most blue states, with the exception of New Mexico, which is both blue and poor, because those blue states make housing expensive on purpose to raise more property tax revenue. Blue states tend to funnel poor people into red states. Maybe red states could stop those people from being poor if they really tried. But blue states don't really try either, they just make sure that poor people can't afford to live in them, again, except for New Mexico. Plus, its not like voting blue guarantees that your people won't be poor. Just look at New Mexico, like I said, or that having a low poverty rate means that your state will be a net tax payer, just look at New Hampshire. Most importantly, if you make redistribution from the rich to the poor an explicit goal, then the states where poor people live being net tax receivers isn't a sign of a problem. Its a sign that the system is working as intended. Even without redistribution, its not like being a net tax receiver means that you are doing something wrong. Virginia and Maryland are net tax receivers because they are where the best paid federal employees and contractors live. They are not a drag on the system unless you think that the employees and contractors are not justifying their compensation, even if you think that, that is the Feds responsibility, not the states' responsibility. Edit: But now that I think of it, Vermont has an extensive welfare state. So they actually try to stop poor people from being poor. But they are a net tax receiving state. So actually trying to stop the poor from being poor doesn't stop you from being a net tax receiver. "And your "they just have to accept" is downright ridiculous. They might make an effort, you know?! Bavaria here in Germany used to be the poorest and most backward state, subsiding heavily on federal support. Nowadays they are paying into the pot, not taking out of it. So if you do your thing right, you can get out of that ditch." Interesting, how did they do that?

[@drzoidberg3849]

Sometimes I wonder if there aren’t shelves under his desk and instead there is a space in the desk where the crew pops up behind and gives him the props

[@karenninascott]

Hey John Oliver, I love you.

[@ilpregno2632]

As an environmental engineer, I deeply appreciate this week's topic. This is not an America-only problem, power grids are old and not ready pretty much everywhere and this rush to a fully electrical life deeply concerns me. Nearly nobody is pointing at these problems we're going to have.

[@shawnjavery]

It's a big reason why I think we won't have full electrification of things. Or at least it taking a lot longer of a time frame/ government spending on a level even higher than the new deal, for a decade and a half.

[@MostHighEmperorPalpatine]

Makes sense they are so outdated 🤔 it does seem we focus the most on port cites over inland cities.

[@MrNicoJac]

Problems we're going to solve* ;) As in, once everything is down the whole fucking time, politicians will finally make it a priority to fix all the things that have been neglected for decades and decades.

[@MostHighEmperorPalpatine]

@@MrNicoJac that's the mentality of most people though... "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" 😒

[@ImionLordred]

You are so right, this is not an America-only problem. Here in Germany our Grid is not that much worn down and most of our lines are installed underground so that they are not that much harmed by the weather. But we face the same problem. You can generate a lot of wind energy in the north, but we have great energy demand in the west and the south, so we would need to upgrade our grid in order to get the "green" electricity to where it is needed. And in addition to that, our big distribution lines, that are also in many cases are landlines, need repair and upgrade as well. So yes, I think this is a world wide challenge to make the transition from centralized electricity production to a distributed system.

[@ChainReactionsProductions]

Speaking as someone who’s lived in Texas for 15 years, we need the power grid repaired and regulated and we need it 9 months ago

[@DavidRichardson153]

We Texans have been needing it ever since ERCOT was established.

[@dalpz205]

Warnings since 1989 but since so many ppl died last winter new laws were passed effective immediately until huge campaign donations showed up for Abbott and friends and now WE'RE paying for it and it'll be done... In the future? Until it's not.

[@Marijuanifornia]

The Texas Governor's mansion has power. Gather everyone without power and go to the Texas Governor's mansion.

[@runed0s86]

*years

[@chaklee435]

@@DavidRichardson153 As I understand it, ERCOT handles distribution, and has no power over the power plants (and natural gas people). So politicians scream at ERCOT to fix the blackouts, ERCOT politely recommends that power plants winter-proof their shit, and the power plants promise to fix things as soon as they can. Then the power plants hang up the phone, laugh, and keep making profit. Ten years later, blackouts happen again, and politicians scream at ERCOT again. What the fuck are they suppose to do? They can't force the power plants to do anything. The politicians can force the power plants to act, but they choose to scapegoat ERCOT instead. It's insanity.

[@RodFarva]

The eastern grid is much bigger than they described. The US and Canada have integrated power grids. The eastern grid also includes Ontario and Quebec. In fact Quebec produces more hydroelectricity than they use and that sells it to the northeast US. When the northeast states go offline they take Ontario with it. It’s all linked together across both countries

[@tituslafrombois1164]

That ending bit with the balloons taking out the studio lights was great!

[@pornpori]

The whole economy depends on having a reliable electrical supply. The ROI of updating the grid is keeping the US economy afloat.

[@SeanRhatigan]

That congressman sounded like he went to a bible college like 100 years ago.

[@thinhvo3893]

US is essentially third world country with a super power military.

[@ccouch713]

It's such a dumb question. If your car breaks down you either repair it or get a new one. You don't expect a return on investment in form of cash from that but it's till worth it...

[@mileswilderest]

@@thinhvo3893 we’re failing in every other respect because we’re only investing in that military. It’s embarrassing.

[@civosborne]

@@thinhvo3893 bold words for someone in liberation distance.

[@RachelEliason]

If watching old mysteries has taught me anything, when the lights go out during a murder trial there will be a new victim when they come back on. 🤓

[@robertstuart480]

"Clue" (1985) - Great mix of mystery and humor. Larry Blamire's "Dark And Stormy Night" (2009) is also hilarious.

[@Bartjdevries]

Wow, I'm impressed. Good on you @john Oliver for making this subject accessible to the wider audience with a laugh. you do such important work! Love it.

[@mikelboone9601]

I used to watch Oliver and Colbert together when I was pretty young. I followed Colbert across his career and I just rediscovered Oliver! I agree with your views expressed in this show. So so funny with motivational properties. Thank you

[@technicallyme]

"Don't make your problem my problem" is exactly why covid got to where it is

[@willkimball7677]

2022 calls...hey guys how are things?

[@rudymurillo9334]

How did that cause a lab leak?

[@technicallyme]

@@rudymurillo9334 can't stop the spread if people don't care who they spread it to or even take responsibility for spreading the virus

[@orangenostril]

@@technicallyme Conservatives aren't able to see things past face value. If they stop believing the lab leak theory it'll become "I may have passed Covid to my kids and they all died because of it, but how could I be at fault for something that a bat did!?"

[@technicallyme]

@@orangenostril that's the part I've never understood. Who cares who's fault it is. We have a problem,there's information coming in from every corner of the globe giving us a good idea of what needs to be done. let's just do what we need to do to get past this. Everyone I've ever know who looks for someone to blame is bad at there job or in my rear view mirror because theyre worried about blame while I'm taking care of what needs to be done

[@noahbuddie]

Our society has definitely failed in the aspect of understanding that society requires cooperation and collaboration. MEMEME works fine if you're alone. Not so much if you have to live with other people. But unfortunately our country endorses and supports being a moron. Education is one of the most quickly cut budgets, and greed not only supported but almost a rule. Land of the greedy, home of the stupid.

[@ltraina3353]

Totally agree with you. God, that politician was so annoying with his idiotic ‘return on investment’ crap….oh I don’t know, having f’ing electricity maybe?? Just half a day without power is enough to remind me how much we rely on electricity. I live in a desert where it is scorchingly hot for 9 months of the year…I consider air conditioning a ‘return on investment’, not to mention the services and conveniences that rely on electricity. I will never understand the absolute selfishness and greed that is so prevalent in this country! We are going to be in a world of hurt if we keep this crap up, and I’d rather not go through that. I’m 50 and I always thought societal breakdown wouldn’t happen in my lifetime, I’m not so sure anymore. Good luck to us all

[@davidwhittington7638]

Well said.. America, united states my arse.. Not in my back yard hick mentality. The hick with the sunglasses couldn't even use the word "electricity". Education is key and giving a crap about your neighbour's is also key. Such a sad "state" of affairs', with each state having it's own ideology, and Idiocracy...

[@youprobablydontlikeme3206]

Friedman: "Do you know any country that doesn't run on greed...? We listened to the wrong people for the wrong reasons. Most humans are unable and/or unwilling to really consider peace, harmony or any social good as a more important thing then money and greed. Most people seperate whats good for them and whats good for others and allways choose whats good for themself. We share a community, a state, a f...n world. We all fail to see this very important point and cut down everything to selfinterest and return of investment. What a nightmare!

[@HobbesHobbiton]

TBH, "political unity" died with all of those COVID-19 victims. We shouldn't seek to compromise or collaborate with domestic terrorists, but sadly the aging, spineless Dems in office feel otherwise.

[@wontbefooledagain9400]

Now they just cancel education all together, I’m sitting in Bay City MI ,and they just announced school in Saginaw is closed due to staffing.

[@Londronable]

I'm 30 in Belgium and I've had one power outage for about 3 hours in my life that I remember. We went eating with grandma less than a mile away because she still had power.

[@jshariff786]

I'm kind of surprised that Belgium doesn't use kilometres (or were you just translating your remark for an American audience)?

[@Londronable]

@@jshariff786 Language is meant to communicate. Most people here will be America, hence I used miles(with the 1 mile = 1.5 kilometer conversion, not bothering being overly exact) I would use "soccer" if it means easier and less confusing communication as well.

[@mattlogue1300]

Yeah in some parts of US it's reliable, middle of Ohio is actually great, they don't have blackouts.

[@Onigirli]

@@Londronable Good man.

[@davidchristian8447]

Clearly that pigeon is looking at John Oliver and thinking "that's one sexy penguin" or "Mnuchin is looking a bit rough lately"

[@Pontifex777]

The whole "my inconvenience is not worth your convenience or life" basis was laid bare during the pandemic all too well. And why we are stuck with policies that do more harm than good and prevent us from being better.

[@richarddevenezia8186]

All nice nice until you get eminent domained or manifest destinied.

[@PartnershipsForYou]

@@richarddevenezia8186 wait what

[@kitcoffey7194]

Full access to 50 state mail in voting, end voter ID laws, make it a paid national holiday, and make it mandatory,end gerrymandering and overturn Citizens United FOR STARTERS.

[@torinnbalasar6774]

@@kitcoffey7194 while I agree that most of your statements would be a tremendously good idea, mandatory voting is one of the red flags indictive of a dictatorship.

[@flaskhjertako]

@@torinnbalasar6774 Just because it's been in fascist countries, does not make it a fascist policy. Australia has the mandatory voting law, and you don't see them pledging to the 3rd Reicht. I think it more or less has to do with what the political scene looks like when it is enacted. In most fascist countries, mandatory voting is usually enacted well after the press, and civil disobedience are cracked down on. Currently the press isn't censored, and while civil disobedience is disincentivized right now, that's primarily because of the pandemic instead of a moral demonization of going against the state.

[@chadmiettunen]

The more I learn about the power grid, the more I'm amazed any of this shit actually still works.

[@willfreese]

More than one person goes home each night mumbling, "I can't believe we kept it going another day."

[@MHGFTW]

Why not just put your powerlines underground?

[@doug960]

@@MHGFTW $$$ It's way more expensive to build, and you have to dig it back up when there are problems or you need to make upgrades

[@chucktaylor4958]

@@willfreese 1 800 DIG would be keep even busier.

[@J3WfroN1NjA21]

@@MHGFTW why cant we just wireless carry energy lol

[@TrollEater]

Anyone want to come over and watch the thermostat with me for a few hours this weekend? We could even pull an all-nighter; up till 6am watching the temperature! Yeah baby!

[@hieverybody4246]

OK I ♥ the Land-O-Giants idea. That is BAD ASS.

[@garyboos9102]

I'm retired now, but from 1976 through 2017 almost all of my time I was a high voltage transmission engineer. I did the design and project management for the type of power lines you described in your segment. In summary: on point and good work. :-). You are correct in that its the Right of Way (ROW) that is the biggest problem. More calendar time is often spent getting the permits than acquiring materials and constructing the line. I can design the needed power line anywhere I can get the ROW to put it. There is one aspect that you did not mention: maintenance and laws. In the NE there are states (E.g. NY) where maintenance is not allowed (by the state regulators) to be put into the rate base. I.e. if a utility wants to replace the "hooks" or shackles or cracked insulators for a line it can do so but must "eat the cost" and this is an expense that is never reimbursed through rates to its customers - it comes out of the Bottom Line (profits). So, often the CEO will simply refuse to do so and take his chances on major problems not occurring before he get his bonuses and retirement package. Federal law could change this and allow all utilities to put maintenance charges into the rate base and then the lines would be more reliable. Also, anyone, in a building, who declares some opposition to power lines should have the lights turned off, and the heating and ventilating turned off. We could then say, "Oh dear! The power lines weren't able to take the load the tens or hundreds of miles from the power plants to this building." Do you think its important?

[@Lainer1]

This is a planned obsolescence narrative. Don't you get it? they get rich quick, and then the grid fails and reboot/reset. the rich get richer and the masses start all over in the slave birth certificate federal cabal scamming system of this pyramid ponzi fiat currency scheme.

[@wild3gaming398]

Or maybe people shouldn’t be making a profit over a necessity like heat and power

[@weisemari]

Here's a way we can in future let the market do its job: Sell the electricity for electric cars for cheap at low load time, sell it for expensive at peak load times. Suddenly many car owners will plan their mobility according to the pricing, and the car batteries will play the role of the energy buffer. ---- Happy regards from Germany, I'm an old gardener, excuse my English.

[@contrawise]

@@weisemari No apology necessary; it was perfect!

[@snikerz5886]

Unfortunately as long as people keep electing Republicans there will be no change. Their whole policy is "fuck the common man, I want money".

[@adayinforever]

Two things you can always expect from John: 1. Integrity 2. Beastiality jokes

[@TarossBlackburn]

And a proper explanation on 'how things go'.

[@phoenix5054]

The beastiality jokes and kinda getting old and tired now. I hope he moves on to something else. Janice from accounting can make a comeback.

[@badluck5647]

I'm not so sure about 1, but 2 is definitely true.

[@AMoistEggroll]

Imho I feel like it'd be more comically better for him to make jokes with other celebrities than beastiality jokes. We got George Clooney and Adam Driver after all. He could also add more up-to-date memes to his jokes.

[@Kuryux]

@@phoenix5054 He usually chooses a theme for the season and rides with it and yes, by the end it feels overused. Remember Adam Driver? Yeap, not missing them at all

[@seanwhitehall4652]

0:45 dude you know dam well how protective Dads are of the thermostat.

[@APG19912009]

10:00 Owww owww! That one hurts even more now with the Roe V Wade leak!

[@BatManWayneCorp]

What really helped with power outages here in Germany was moving most Power lines inside cities underground. Makes them way less vulnerable to balloons

[@FalbertForester]

This can be a good move, in urban areas, but it can make it a lot more difficult to reach the lines for repair, though. And when flooding comes - it tends to flood out your local power grid.

[@rlud304]

Ich liebe Deutschland! Underground power lines is so much nicer aesthetically too. Power lines are so ugly that they ruin the landscape.

[@rlud304]

@@FalbertForester Always a naysayer

[@BatManWayneCorp]

@@FalbertForester true, it makes them harder to reach for repairs, but there are also less repairs necessary, since the lines aren't exposed to the elements, falling trees, etc.. I didn't hear of flooding outing our power, but I can't say it doesn't, either.

[@macexpert7247]

@@BatManWayneCorp Ever heard about conduit and tunnels?

[@JuanAMatos-zx4ub]

Imagine being in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, anywhere from 3 months to a year without power. Some places in the island never got power back and the government basically told them that it was too difficult to get it back working again in those remote areas. I mean, I get that it's an island surrounded by big water, but damn. This needs to be taken seriously.

[@e-spy]

yes, and I don't think a roll of paper towels will help the situation.

[@chrisfrisch1347]

maybe that is by design so as to heard the sheeple in to cities where they can easier be controlled and watched and manipulated

[@PYR0NinjaPXG]

@@e-spy It was insane. I have a lot of family that lives on the island -- that winter my grandmother had to come up to NY to live with us for months while repairs in the area were done. It was wonderful having her around of course, we don't see her that often due to the distance, but the circumstances were awful. There is a lot of "normal" water/power shortages there outside of hurricane season (due to shoddy infrastructure), but Maria was a massive blow. I genuinely don't know for the future holds for islands in the Caribbean regarding climate change.

[@e-spy]

@@PYR0NinjaPXG The whole thing just broke my heart. How can we virtually ignore our own citizens like that?! I haven't read the entire bill, but there had BETTER be a good chunk set aside to address this situation. My hopes and prayers are for the people of puerto rico, including and especially your grandmother and the many friends I have there. Stay well!

[@kimberlychodur3508]

@@e-spy thank God he didn't throw them at the governors dealing with wildfires.

[@nomimalone7520]

We're also incredibly vulnerable to a solar flare wiping out our entire grid for months or even years. The last big one was in 1859 and if was called the Carrington event.

[@cody3281]

I'm 90% certain the oh shit after the explosion was surprise at how big it was

[@boRegah]

The "land of the giants" design of the transmission towers looked the best by far.

[@sorenkazaren4659]

@@RandomPerson13 Just gonna put this out there. But an alarming number of humans worship some creature(s) called “God”. Said creature(s) historically say humans are bad, evil, and unworthy of worship. I’d argue that has something to do with why we don’t see so much humans are awesome look what we can do imagery. I’ve found religion hates it when people glorify what humans can do, and if some human does do something great it gets attributed to an act of God.

[@LochNessax3]

Just imagine a bunch marching across the desert or along the interstate highways. You can't tell me that wouldn't look hella cool

[@austincde]

@@LochNessax3 some horses running in a line 🐎🐎🐎

[@jessehammer123]

Yeah, I loved that design. Spooky, yet also strikingly evocative of a sense of wonder. The designers of those towers did really well for themselves.

[@JimRFF]

@@sorenkazaren4659 in the spirit of bona fide argument, there are a couple things fundamentally wrong with what you said... first, theologically, God isn't a creature in any religion that I'm aware of; creatures are created, God is a creator, and there is a categorical difference there which is what makes the god or gods different from animals... second, the claim that God says humans are bad is ENTIRELY dependent on the specific theological traditions of a particular religion -- Buddhism does say that humanity is fundamentally evil and we need active effort to overcome our nature, Abrahamic religions say that human nature is fundamentally good but flawed through choice, and I'm not aware of any native American religion for example that would say humans are at all "evil" by any kind of moral category -- to say that all religions "historically say humans are bad" is a gross oversimplification and misrepresentation of religion and history... and a final point: "religion hates it when people glorify what humans can do" is an absurd statement, religions don't hate or love anything, people do. Individual humans may diminish or glorify human actions as they personally chose to, but the religion itself does not make the same petty emotional decisions that people do; Pope Julius II didn't commission Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel because Catholicism hated humanity or human efforts, and the religion certainly doesn't assert that God Himself painted it.... And again here, you're committing the fallacy of sweeping generalization whenever you talk about "religion" as an ideologically unified single body. I don't expect anything I've said will actually change your opinions on your beliefs, which is fine, but please make an effort to improve your arguments supporting those beliefs, as the claims you made in that comment quite weak, make for poor support, and are riddled with fallacy, from a strictly logical perspective

[@huntercrosby8882]

As someone who works in environmental compliance, specifically in transmission lines, solar and wind, this was very well done. Good job John and team.

[@jamesjolly2204]

I thought it was a pretty good presentation as well...

[@phil20_20]

What ever happened to supercooled hydrogen conductors? I thought that was supposed to solve this problem.

[@sailaab]

Right

[@oldmandeadpool1064]

But he’s ignoring nuclear like all you progressives.

[@Alex-cw1ph]

@@oldmandeadpool1064 as someone who lives near several plants, they fail frequently. It doesn't matter how well you think they are run, human error persists. It is not feasible to take that risk again at the present moment. See Chernobyl

[@westinghouse]

Thanks for that blast from the past John Oliver!! #WestinghouseElectricHome

[@ashtea96]

The iceland ones are so eerie, i love it and we need it

[@NumbBlaze]

"We haven't done nearly enough" should be the US new slogan.

[@kitcoffey7194]

"Because we give tax breaks to the rich every year/refuse to ever tax the people with money instead of ever investing in actual social and material infrastructure"

[@NefastusJones]

Unfortunately, the new US slogan is, "I got mine!"

[@stevebuscemi3622]

Our government haven't done nearly enough. FIFY

[@ptanyuh]

More like, "we've barely done anything".

[@ianschmutzler8177]

that's fair

[@Solarn40]

I can't be the only one who kept yelling "the return on investment is that people are going to have electricity, you decrepit, selfish asshole" at my screen when Rep. Johnson was talking, can I?

[@Acidfrog475]

Nope

[@eideticex]

Don't argue with a bad premise. Your just justifying his nonsensical arguments.

[@LochNessax3]

Certainly not. However, I also drifted into a daydream of some sassy young person asking him about the return on investment for defense spending and pipelines.

[@tommaj5657]

It should be looked at as an insurance, not an investment. You insure something you have because of the enormous costs associated with losing it.

[@brian2440]

@@tommaj5657 except it’s completely different things

[@kaylea155]

I once spent an entire hour explaining windmills to my grandmother. We were on a boat off of Liverpool, and we were talking about the massive amount of windmills, and she asked why some of them weren't moving. My grandpa and I proposed that they were being stopped for maintenance, and then it all just went downhill. She said "So, they've disconnected them?". Well no, we said, they were physically holding the blades down to work on them. She just didn't get it. We kept using different analogies and she kept saying "if the blades aren't moving, they're not connected to the power source." I eventually just lost it a little bit and said "Grandma, the power source is THE WIND. You cannot disconnect something from THE WIND unless you frickin put it inside!! Are you trying to suggest that windmills are just big spinny things connected to a power source that spins them in order to CREATE WIND? Because I promise you, it is the other way around." TLDR, some people will never understand renewable energy

[@tajklair]

2:27 I remember when i got attacked by a local book snake good times

[@POTATOEMPN]

Imagine the slug, right now, watching this at .25 play speed, hearing that his Cousin, Sam, actually followed through on his plan to terrorize the humans.

[@billveusay9423]

The "watching at .25 play speed" is the cherry on top of this comment

[@edofluit6568]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@brucedavis1803]

“Oh my God he finally did it!”

[@dalpz205]

Texan here. We'd like not to die this winter. Warnings issued since 1989 and new "laws" seem to never be completed because governor campaign donations from same energy companies.

[@nickpacitti3247]

Exactly !!!

[@dev8586]

The ending is absolutely brilliant

[@coreywelton8659]

Switching to solar was one of the best decisions i ever made.

[@ardenprince2146]

For those who don’t know, the situation in Texas was truly insane, I was working at a cold weather shelter all night and returned home to an apartment that was so cold I couldn’t stay there, had to get my family across town to friend’s house who had a gas stove, but our car got stuck and we had to abandon it, it was honestly a little apocalyptic, and I had never thought about how we take a functioning power grid for granted before

[@whiteraven550]

Can't wrap my head around how the US can consider itself a first word country, let alone "the greatest country" while this is happening out of sheer greed.

[@lowonplotproductions3283]

And an 11 year old died of hypothermia in his home. It haunts me. He wasn't the only fatality. Climate change kills.

[@Serpentius]

@@whiteraven550 100%. GREED! I wonder, does GOP stand for Greed Only Pays?

[@kitcoffey7194]

mobilize in the off season since your state doesn't care about at least HALF of its people

[@kitcoffey7194]

@Ben Henderson you have no understanding of cold weather or how hypothermia works.

[@eastunder55]

I usually cringe at non-engineer attempts to talk about electric power transmission and distribution. John and his staff put together an excellent discussion of the problems and some possible solutions to the power grid. I shouldn't have doubted John, he always does a superb job.

[@TheTruthWholeTruthNothingButTh]

What do you think about STEM?

[@Brian-ey4xt]

I feel the same. Reporting on STEM stuff is often pretty poor, but this did an ok job hitting a lot of relevant points about grid infrastructure and politics given the segment duration and needing to incorporate comedy.

[@hellfish2309]

Come back when you build a Colosso for Americur

[@Demon_DC]

He did a horrible job at explaining what's really wrong.

[@radoraf]

@Hank HILL I recall last winter TX had no redundancy when it's grid went offline. Criticizing the pebble in your neighbor's eye would seem kind of ironic.

[@dtopa7524]

Most people don't charge their electric cards during peek hours, it's mostly overnight. Any if everyone switched to electric cards, they could be used like batteries to support the grid during peek hours or during outages.

[@MatthewBrown-yu1hs]

The comedic writing in this episode was really damn good, well done.

[@nomore6167]

"A return on investment is a monetary thing. That's why you make an investment." - Mr. Johnson, (R) Ohio. Let's ask Mr. Johnson why we have a military. The military does not give us any money; it only takes our money. If a return on investment is strictly a monetary thing, then we should get rid of the military. Sometimes I wonder how these idiots passed grade-school, let alone high school or higher education.

[@Mode-Selektor]

Its like asking "what's the return on investment for buying a furnace." Ummm, having a heated home? Can a monetary value easily be attached to that? No. Is it worth the investment? Absolutely.

[@krejados1]

He was just bullying her; his tone, interruptions and body language makes that clear. What he asked was irrelevant; the point was to try to discredit her.

[@cggc9510]

I've dealt with these types of people by both ignoring their questions or by calling out their rudeness. It isn't ideal, but rather fun. That is my return on investment. I am ashamed he represents Ohio.

[@rydorion182]

Let's ask him if he ever brushed his teeth. He didn't, because you can't make money buying toothpaste. Bill Johnson stinks.

[@darkriku12]

This man does not know what a "service" is. Like, roads don't have an official ROI, but your employees need to get to work, right? He's the short-term focused MBA middle manager that causes long term harm for everything they touch. We need to rid society, companies, and government of these cancers.

[@iloveplasticbottles]

Q: whats the return on investment? A: not freezing to death because your politicians get their wallets lined up by oil and natural gas companies.

[@michaelccozens]

Which is clearly an excellent moral reason, but also carries a reason of "self-interest" as well. The economic and social disruption caused by preventable outages and the injury and death that comes with them impacts us all via increased costs and decreased productivity. It's not just the right thing; it's the smart thing. But because it would involve slightly less of the total larger pie ending up in the pockets of a vanishingly-small and increasingly-ludicrously-powerful group of the connected wealthy, we don't do it. It's very "suicide of the Senatorial class in the collapse of the Roman Republic"; there, too, the wealthy didn't care if society, or even themselves, would be better-off with a given policy in absolute terms. They only cared if it made them *relatively* richer than their also-wealthy Senatorial competitors. Basically, if given a choice between everyone getting $50 or everyone losing $50, but the Senator in question only losing $40, they would prefer the latter case, because they only cared about being *richer than others*, rather than being richer overall. Truly evil.

[@dwells7747]

Who do you think produces the energy? Is it possible that it’s the very oils and gas companies that you’ve been told to hate?

[@daemonspudguy]

@@dwells7747 that's kind of the problem.

[@KnitterX]

I would like to ask that man three questions. 1. Do you buy fucking shoes? 2. What's your return on investment for shoes? 3. Then why the fuck do you buy fucking shoes?

[@unborncookie9809]

@@KnitterX yeah that senator was clearly a tool, whats the return on investment in having a working power grid? its pretty simple, its having electricity. needless to say not much economic development will happen in a region devoid of power and if we keep neglecting our powergrid for another 20-30 years, it might fail beyond our capability of a quick repair It happened in Quebec in 1998 after a freak ice rain event that left 4-5 inches of ice on power lines and towers over 90 towers collapsed because of the added weight, (that over 10 miles of towers) you cant fix that in a day or two some towns where out of power for over 60 days

[@flamingfoxx]

As someone that was directly affected by PG&E and their infrastructure bullshit (not the Camp Fire, just another one of the dozens of PG&E malfunctions that caused fires that year), I had to evacuate and didn't know if my house would be there when I got back. Several of my teachers were absent for a few additional weeks after we were allowed to return, because they were now homeless and were one of thousands of people trying to rebuild We were woken up at 2:30 am by police, saying get the fuck out right now, and didn’t even get out of the town until 9 because the entire town was evacuating at once (it's about a 15 minute drive normally). The sky literally looked like hell. Like actual doomsday shit, it was weirdly dark because of the smoke, the sun was this awful deep red, and everything had a red tint to it. When we got back not only was there ash completely covering everything, there were whole singed papers everywhere. Apparently papers in fireproof safes were combusting and guns had been exploding it was so hot. All the cars that weren't evacuated had literally melted; not just the tires, the rims and bumpers were liquefied and the car seats were basically just a bunch of melted plastic My house was fine thankfully- it didn't even reach the inside of my town, but it spread so fast and jumped so many freeways that nothing was safe. You haven't known fear until you see your local hospital's emergency unit is being evacuated because there's *fucking FIRE TORNADOS* right next to it Thanks PG&E, not just for being almost solely responsible for the death of hundreds of people and thousands, if not millions, of animals, but also introducing the lovely new phenomenon of *f i r e t o r n a d o s* Worst part is my grandma used to work for PG&E in their ethics (?) department decades ago (70s-80s?). She was mentioning how weird it was that the US had all these above-ground wires, because in England, where she's from, they were all already underground. They laughed it off "oh you silly lady with your stupid woman brain" sort of thing. She has a PHD from Stanford. She was right. Her stupid woman brain was so right

[@hythe4936]

Been watching these while im studying and doing my homework. It really helps

[@rasmuslindegaard2024]

I love that whole: "I don't give a shit if this is for the benefit of the people living on the other side of the country" Do you want them all to come and live where you are then? No? How about climate changes that fucks up the place you live in. Want that? no? Maybe you should show a bit more solidarity, and try to gain a higher perspective.

[@whiteraven550]

Those people act like they are completely independent from "the people living on the other side of the country" but in reality a lot of farming equipment, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. are being developed and produced by those very people on the other side of the country.

[@Acidfrog475]

Why does everyone need to be so selfish all the time? Do some people really have such a hard time understanding basic empathy?

[@LochNessax3]

I love our individualism, but it's times like these that I really envy collectivist cultures, like Korea and Japan. In both countries, you can go anywhere (coast, mountains, etc) and have high-speed internet and electricity, because communities were happy to do something that would benefit the country as a whole.

[@jacobojala3767]

Maybe if the people in the cities didn’t treat those in rural areas as second class citizens, lording over them as if their opinion doesn’t matter. Just because the population of the cities and suburbs are high; doesn't mean that their interests are more important. The farmers, miners, loggers, and truckers keep the cities from starving. Yet they get almost no say in state governments. The legislative districts are split by population, this skews the agenda towards high population areas and disenfranchises the minority of rural citizens in the states. Look up Reynolds v. Sims a Supreme Court case that forced states to redistrict. The moral of the story is that if those in the countryside continue to be sidelined, the political divide will continue worsen. P.S. Federalism is the answer even at the state level.

[@RichardServello]

Now imagine if the coastal cities said that about middle America and stopped paying into the system. They would be kinda fucked and ready to put up those windmills.

[@EE-sw3uh]

“don’t make your problem my problem” is quintessentially american and so deeply frustrating. Shit it might as well be the GOP motto

[@fuffy442]

It'll have to compete with the other front-runner for their motto -- "We are the problem!"

[@midniteryder3169]

RethugliKKKan motto indeed…so much 4 making ‘murica great…

[@1guysopinion798]

You mean like NY righting their high taxes off their federal taxes so the rest of us can fund their socialist state? Thank God Trump stopped that but watch Biden reverse that.

[@kingpet]

@@1guysopinion798 we found an orange sunglasses guy right here!

[@1guysopinion798]

@@kingpet your TDS is showing

[@moreblack]

that ending with the balloons was on point

[@ethanbox2010]

That baseball joke was gold

[@JasonRennie]

"If you've ever wondered how balloons can cause a power outage..." Yes, John, this is exactly why I watch.

[@Bacteriophagebs]

I thought he meant hot-air balloons (and that may be what the statistic actually is) because those things hit power lines distressingly often, usually killing everyone aboard.

[@JVenger]

I've actually seen that first hand. Pretty cool until you realize it knocks your power out

[@manuel0578]

This particular example probably didn’t cause a power outage. But there are metal balloons that can

[@joellahrman4557]

The biggest threat to power lines on a day-to-day basis is all the tree branches and limbs that can come into contact with the lines as they grow. It's a big job keeping them trimmed back.

[@stanmoulton6904]

maybe there were slugs on the balloons?

[@twat3789]

Can confirm ladies, there’s nothing quite like having the thermo-bros over for a much needed boiler watching sesh

[@rita-want-sex152]

forget to say, “Good morning” 👊✊👎👍👌✋🖐

[@rita-want-sex152]

a dear little girl who was 😘😍😎😋😊😉😆

[@rita-want-sex152]

‘Who is there?’🍹🍸🍷🍾🍶🍵☕️

[@draevonmay7704]

The bot problem getting real bad, i see

[@fourlightsorchestra]

“Hawt”.

[@Ckom-Tunes]

The solution is obvious (and expensive!) A decade ago our city decided to bite the bullet and put all our power lines underground. Since, the only power interruptions we’ve had have come from outside our community but have been very short (like seconds) because the system can easily be re-routed locally. Added, benefits are safer streets and better roads. And, there is the huge benefit of not having to look at ugly power lines and poles! It makes for a beautiful community! But, it costs, like anything else worthwhile…

[@katyakaplan225]

I need John to do a web exclusive about squirrels just so we can hear him say the word a lot.