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This badass GOP mayor switched his Texas city to renewable energy because of ‘the facts.’

Georgetown, a Texas a city about 30 miles out of Austin, with a population of around 67,000, is a red city with a mayor who proudly attended Donald Trump's inauguration. In a state dominated by big oil, it’s the last place you’d expect to find a city that’s ran on 100% renewable energy … but it is.

The only other city to run on 100% renewables is in liberal Vermont.

When asked why a red city in a red state is one of the first cities in the U.S. to be powered 100% by renewable energy, his answer is simple: “In Georgetown, we make our decisions based on the facts.”


In an interview with the CBC, he had harsh words for president Trump, who’s been a huge supporter of coal.

“I couldn't disagree with him more on environmental or energy policy,” he said. “He says it's clean coal. There is no such animal as clean coal. If he would invite me to the White House, I could show him the art of the deal when it comes to energy.”

[rebelmouse-image 19397653 dam="1" original_size="826x475" caption="Halifax International Security Forum/Flickr" expand=1]Halifax International Security Forum/Flickr

When Georgetown’s power contract was up in 2012, the city looked at its options and renewable energy was complete no-brainer over oil and gas which prices fluctuate by the day.

“Wind and solar would give us fixed-rate pricing for 25 years. With natural gas, it's only seven years,” Ross said. “So we know, all the way through 2041, what we are going to pay for our electricity, which gives us cost certainty, which minimizes and mitigates volatility in the short-term market.”

“In Texas, it's $2.50 per gallon of gasoline,” he continued. “If I made you an offer that for 25 years I can guarantee you $2.50, would you take it? I would lock in, for sure.”

Georgetown gets its solar power from the 154 megawatt Buckthorn solar plant in West Texas and draws wind power from a farm near Amarillo and two in west Texas.

Ross and his city’s decision to put policy and science before party is refreshing in an era marked by political divisions. “In Georgetown,” he said, “we put silly national partisan politics to the side and we just do what's good for the voters and citizens that put us into office.”

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

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A beautiful cruise ship crossing the seas.

Going on a cruise can be an incredible getaway from the stresses of life on the mainland. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an element of danger when living on a ship 200-plus feet high, traveling up to 35 miles per hour and subject to the whims of the sea.

An average of about 19 people go overboard every year, and only around 28% survive. Cruise ship lawyer Spencer Aronfeld explained the phenomenon in a viral TikTok video, in which he also revealed the secret code the crew uses when tragedy happens.

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A woman looking at her phone while sitting on the toilet.


One of the most popular health trends over the last few years has been staying as hydrated as possible, evidenced by the massive popularity of 40-oz Stanely Quencher cups. The theory among those who obsess over hydration is that, when you pee clear, you’ve removed all the waste in your body and are enjoying the incredible benefits of being 100% hydrated. Congratulations.

However, according to Dr. Sermed Mezher, an NHS doctor in the UK, peeing clear isn’t always a sign of being healthy.

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Joy

Kudos to the heroes who had 90 seconds to save lives in the Key Bridge collapse

The loss of 6 lives is tragic, but the dispatch recording shows it could have been so much worse.

Representative image by Gustavo Fring/Pexels

The workers who responded to the Dali's mayday call saved lives with their quick response.

As more details of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore emerge, it's becoming more apparent how much worse this catastrophe could have been.

Just minutes before 1:30am on March 26, shortly after leaving port in Baltimore Harbor, a cargo ship named Dali lost power and control of its steering, sending it careening into a structural pillar on Key Bridge. The crew of the Dali issued a mayday call at 1:26am to alert authorities of the power failure, giving responders crucial moments to prepare for a potential collision. Just 90 seconds later, the ship hit a pylon, triggering a total collapse of the 1.6-mile bridge into the Patapsco River.

Dispatch audio of those moments shows the calm professionalism and quick actions that limited the loss of life in an unexpected situation where every second counted.

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Joy

Yale's pep band had to miss the NCAA tournament. University of Idaho said, 'We got you.'

In an act of true sportsmanship, the Vandal band learned Yale's fight song, wore their gear and cheered them on.

Courtesy of University of Idaho

The Idaho Vandals answered the call when Yale needed a pep band.

Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the "Vandogs" for a weekend.

When Yale made it to the March Madness tournament, members of the school's pep band had already committed to other travel plans during spring break. They couldn't gather enough members to make the trek across the country to Spokane, Washington, so the Yale Bulldogs were left without their fight song unless other arrangements could be made.

When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale's game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale's fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.

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An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

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