Mitigating the Inevitable

[California's Lake Oroville, the state’s second largest reservoir, has seen a precipitous 190-foot drop in water level from June 2019 to June 2021. (NASA Landsat Program/Twitter)]

What makes global climate change so difficult is it feels too big and overwhelming for us as individuals to have any impact.

But that isn't true.

In our daily lives, we can eat a more climate-friendly diet, including seasonal, local foods; install solar panels, recycle, invest in sustainable technologies, conserve resources and limit our consumption of fossil fuels, among other steps.

As citizens we can support leaders who get it and expel those who don't from office. Organizing efforts by environmental activists have been responsible for much of the progress we've made on the issue; so donating to non-profits who are working on the issue is another option.

But perhaps the most important step we can take is simply talking about it -- not as an apocalyptic inevitability but as a mitigable inevitability. Although it is far too late to stop climate change, we may be able to limit its catastrophic effects on our grandchildren.

In this context, converting government fleets to electric vehicles, promoting the collection of rainwater by agencies, and reducing public waste all will help. If governments mobilize for collective action, there may be ways to better prepare our populations for what is to come.

Explaining the impending crisis to young children is appropriate as long as it isn't done in ways that overwhelm them. After all, they will be dealing with this throughout their lives, so getting used to the tradeoffs early on may spur them to help us find solutions.

Most children instinctively want to make things better; they are our greatest natural resource.

I'm writing these thoughts as summer descends on California, normally a special time, but this year it feels like we are poised on a frightening precipice. The heat promises to be intense, the drought is historic, the forests are dry and the specter of last year's orange skies hangs over everything.

And as pitiably small and inadequate as everything I've described may seem in the face of catastrophic climate change, these steps represent our last best hope.

Future generations deserve at least *that* much from us...right now.

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THE HEADLINES:

* This time of year, it’s always there — a kind of looming peril that tinges even the most perfect, blue-skied beach days and hikes. It’s the knowledge that at any moment, a fire could spark anywhere in the state and consume hundreds of thousands of acres, level homes and threaten lives. (California Today)

* Likely 'the most extreme and prolonged heat waves in the recorded history' for the Northwest start today (CNN)

* Satellite data shows California’s deserts have lost almost 40 percent of their plants. (Desert Sun)

* The drought is making Sacramento’s water taste like dirt. (The Guardian) 

* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi authorized a select committee to investigate the "many questions" about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and response. Republicans, including those who helped Donald Trump foment the violence, have furiously objected to a probe. [HuffPost]

* Justice Dept. to file lawsuit against state of Georgia over new voting restrictions (WP)

* They Seemed Like Democratic Activists. They Were Secretly Conservative Spies. -- Operatives infiltrated progressive groups across the West to try to manipulate politics and reshape the national electoral map. They targeted moderate Republicans, too — anyone seen as threats to hard-line conservatives. (NYT)

* ‘We can find common ground’: Biden’s faith in bipartisanship is rewarded — at least for now (WP)

* Unauthorized Settlement Creates Stress Test for Israel’s New Government -- The outpost of Evyatar is illegal under Israeli law. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will anger one wing of his coalition if he evicts the settlers, and another if he lets them stay. (NYT)

* Workers seized a McDonald’s in France and turned it into a food bank (WP)

* Under Pressure, a Japanese Official Killed Himself. Now His Story Is Revealed. -- Toshio Akagi told his wife that he had compiled a dossier detailing the pressure he had faced to alter documents at the center of a political scandal. This week, she won her fight to see them. (NYT)

* U.S. bars imports of solar panels linked to forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region (WP)

* Congressional Democrats have approved a measure reinstating rules aimed at limiting climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas drilling, a rare effort by Democrats to use the legislative branch to overturn a regulatory rollback under President Donald Trump. (AP)

* Why Police Have Been Quitting in Droves in the Last Year -- Asheville, N.C., has been among the hardest hit by police departures in the wake of last year’s George Floyd protests. About a third of the force quit or retired. (NYT)

* Afghan government could fall within six months of U.S. military withdrawal, intel assessment says (WP)

* U.S. to Move Afghans Who Aided Troops Outside the Country -- The relocations are meant to place interpreters and others who worked with departing American forces somewhere safe until visas for them to enter the United States are processed. (NYT)

* Roughly 650 U.S. troops are expected to remain in Afghanistan to provide security for diplomats after the main American military force completes its withdrawal, which is set to be largely done in the next two weeks. (AP)

* Texas Republicans, undeterred by a setback in the state House last month, renewed their push to restrict the participation of transgender students in school sports. [HuffPost]

* Rising seas have long pressured Miami coastal properties (WP)

* San Francisco will require all city employees to be vaccinated. Those who refuse will be fired. (California Today)

* U.S. to Search Former Native American Schools for Children’s Remains -- Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a new initiative that would delve into the records of the federal schools to which Native American children were forcibly relocated for 150 years. (NYT)

* Canada labels the Three Percenters a terrorist entity (WP)

* Britain begins Amazon, Google fake review inquiry (Reuters)

* ‘Dragon Man’ Fossil Skull Found in China Tells Story of Unknown Human Ancestor (WSJ)

* U.S. unable to explain more than 140 unidentified flying objects, but new report finds no evidence of alien life (WP)

* The Truth Has Not Always Been Out There -- Rather than explaining when U.F.O. sightings were really just top-secret planes, the government has sometimes allowed public eagerness about the possibility of aliens to take hold. (NYT)

* What we learned while working from home, and how it can boost employees’ well-being (WP)

* Contractor Informs Biden It’d Be Cheaper To Just Tear Down U.S. And Start Over (The Onion)

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"(Love is like a) Heat Wave"

Martha and the Vandellas

Whenever I'm with him
Something inside
Starts to burnin'
And I'm filled with desire

Could it be the devil in me
Or is this the way love's supposed to be

Just like a heatwave
Burning in my heart
Can't keep from cryin'
It's tearing me apart

Whenever he calls my name
So slow, sweet and plain
I feel, yeah, yeah, well I feel that burning flame

Has my blood pressure got a hold on me
Or is this the way love's supposed to be

Just like a heatwave (Heatwave)
Burning in my heart (Heatwave)
Can't keep from cryin'
It's tearing me apart

Heatwave
Heatwave

Sometimes I stare in space
Tears all over my face
I can't explain it, don't understand it
I'ain't never felt like this before

But that doesn't mean it has me amazed
I don't know what to do, my head's in a haze

Just like a heatwave (Heatwave)
Burning in my heart (Heatwave)
Can't keep from cryin'
It's tearing me apart

Don't pass up this chance
This time it's a true romance