Oil & Lead/Yesterday & Today

 

The most recent polls have Joe Biden winning the national vote by 9-11 points and leading in most key swing states by 3-7 points. But all of those polls were taken before the debate Thursday night, where Biden's promise to "transition" away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources gave Donald Trump a new talking point that may play to Trump's advantage in certain key areas.

We've reached T-10 days until the election. The polls, historically speaking, should narrow, thus the outcome remains in doubt. The pollsters will tell you they have corrected their methodologies since 2016 but I will believe that when I see the substantial Biden victory they are predicting.

Political analysts who passed away decades ago would recognize how the oil issue plays out in certain parts of country today. And climate change scientists who passed away decades ago would be appalled that we are still debating whether to finally move out of the extractive industries in order to preserve life on earth.

Progress remains painfully slow.

The pro-oil forces persist today much as they did back when Robert Engler wrote "The Politics of Oil" in 1961 -- another book that influenced my decision to become an environmentalist as a young man. Sadly, his warning was ignored by the larger culture.

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My youngest granddaughter is two and my son (her father) was talking about how she used to like to chew on her crib, though she claimed that a "(s)pider did it." The chewing part reminded me of the Children's Environmental Health Project we started at the Center for Investigative Reporting in the 1970s.

The big issue then was of lead poisoning among babies who chewed on window sills -- they did that because lead is sweet. In high enough concentrations, lead causes brain damage and other central nervous damage.

Luckily in this era, there is no lead paint on the cribs, so that particular health threat is no longer as great a danger, although it persists in the poorer ends of town.

When it comes to fossil fuels and lead poisoning, the issues never seem to go away, which discourages me deeply. It raises the unavoidable question of whether the work many of us have done for decades actually mattered at all. 

So many people refused to listen. So many people still refuse to listen.

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main…. Any man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Any therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." -- John Donne

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Onto the news:

* With his constant attacks on "fake news," which is what he calls accurate news reports that he dislikes, Trump has emboldened dictators around the world to suppress the independent press in their countries. (CNN)

* A Debate Pledge to ‘Transition’ From Oil Puts Climate at Center of Campaign Finale -- Biden's debate statement that he would "transition" the country away from oil gave President Trump an opening and thrust climate change center stage. (NYT)

* As Obama stumps for Biden, another chance to vanquish Trump and protect his own legacy (WashPo)

* Surging coronavirus colors White House race in closing days (AP) 

* Why Can’t We See All of the Government’s Virus Data? -- Since March, federal agencies have been collecting a trove of information. But they refuse to release most of it. (NYT)

* California’s devastating wildfire season may get even worse this weekend (WashPo)

* In Colorado, It Feels Like a Fire Season Without End -- After a horrific summer of fires in the West, Colorado is fighting out-of-control fires as ski season approaches. (NYT)

* Deadly Colorado wildfire tears through Rocky Mountain National Park, threatens Estes Park (WashPo)

* Susan Collins Hasn’t Changed Much, but Maine Has -- Democrats are angry with her. Republicans see her as disloyal to the president. Her old-fashioned politics? “I don’t know if people respond as well to that anymore,” said her G.O.P. predecessor in the Senate. (NYT)

* Trump privately tells donors it would be ‘very tough’ for GOP to hold Senate (WashPo)

* From Electoral-Vote.com: Senate -- Dems 51, GOP 49.

* In the World Series game four, the Dodgers improbably made two errors on a single to lose to the Rays, 8-7 in the bottom of the 9th. The series is tied at two games apiece. (DW)

* Michigan opened the pandemic-shortened football season by defeating Minnesota, 49-24, retaining college football's oldest trophy, the Little Brown Jug. (DW)

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Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conquering heroes
Hail! Hail! to michigan
The leaders and best!
Hail! To the victors valiant
Hail! to the conquering heroes
Hail! Hail! to michigan
The champions of the west!

-- Michigan Marching Band

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