Friday for Future
Perhaps it sounds odd for a lifetime educator to say that he thinks all the kids should skip school. But I really do, at least on Fridays. I support these climate kids, and I encourage more of them to skip school in the future, for the future.
https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/
And I guess I’m not the only one. Here’s a strong petition by sciencemag.org. Scientists making real statement in support of the climate kids:
I support the climate kids, too. I want there to be a future. That’s why I’m a Climate Voter in 2020.
As a non-affiliated progressive, that has a nice feel to me. I’m independent of any party, so I can vote based on the issues and policies I think are most important. For me, the overriding issue, the great war of our time, is the climate crisis.
The environmental emergency we face— not in the future but right now— encompasses all the other issues I care so much about, in the exact way that the environment encompasses all of us. We all share the atmosphere, the oceans, the gift of a world which provides us with life support, sustenance, and beauty.
In an emergency, we have to put our other differences aside. We have to abandon our labels and our old identities until we are safe again. I want to stand behind these four statements. If you read this, I’d love to have you help me refine and develop them into principles that we can share.
1) I believe the environment is in crisis, that the world is approaching a climate catastrophe.
2) I believe social changes now can make a positive difference in reduction, mitigation, and survival as we face this emergency.
3) I believe our political leaders must lead, must act, must work for all of us to make these needed changes. Or get out of the way.
4) I will not vote for any candidate, of any party, who doesn’t put protecting the environment and alleviating climate change at the top of their priorities.
Preoccupied with the clown in chief and the circus surrounding his taxes and other crimes, the Democrats are mostly ignoring their best chance for winning in 2020. And perhaps all of our best chance to begin coping with the climate crisis.
“We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change and we are the last generation, literally, who can do something about it,” Governor Jay Inslee
Governor Jay Inslee
I don’t think Inslee is using the word “literally” in that modern ironic way that means its opposite. No, I think he means literally as in, “We are really, truly, in actual fact, the last generation with a chance to reduce the coming climate catastrophe.” Inslee might be our best hope to have that chance.
Here’s the CNN town hall in it’s entirety. Too bad about the commercials.
A few quick notes from the Town Hall:
Inslee does not support impeachment “at this time”. In my view, he’s wrong about that. But he doesn’t work in DC. The only people who can impeach are the Democrats in the House. So far they have failed on that front.
Inslee admits a mistake. This was an amazing moment. When asked about his vote for a Drug War era law, Inslee says directly that he regrets that vote, and if he knew what he knew now about the racial disparity the law would create, he would never have done it. This is a rare trait for a politician. Not to excuse himself, but to simply admit a mistake. Impressive.
Inslee’s comments about the transition from fossil fuels are excellent. But when asked about communities “dependent on fossil fuels” Inslee could say that they are not dependent. No one is dependent on fossil fuels. It’s a choice to get off them. They are just used to it. These are economic habits that we need to change. In a just and careful way.
From the side, my view is that voters concerned with policy above personality and with a record of effective change should take a serious look at Inslee. So far he’s the only candidate of any party that I could consider voting for, as a Climate Voter in 2020.
Some links for climate Friday:
Want to start catching up on the science of climate change?
http://news.mit.edu/2019/economist-nicholas-stern-warns-renewable%20energy-0411
As I’ve pointed out, the environment is an issue that transcends any party labels. Even young Republicans have begun to see that the climate matters.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/11/we-can-talk-about-this-millennial-republicans-take-a-methodical-approach-to-climate-change
But Andrew Wheeler, Trump’s Head of the EPA doesn’t care about climate change. Perhaps if the acronym were spelled out for him. Environmental Protection Agency. Nope, didn’t seem to work.
http://time.com/5569214/epa-chief-andrew-wheeler-climate-change/
From the side, it seems the biggest issue right now is that most people, of all political persuasions, do not recognize the environmental situation as a real emergency.
View from the Side could learn a lot if you’d take a second to comment below in response to this climate questionnaire: I’m curious what you think. Thanks!
How would you describe the current environmental situation:
A) Life or death danger
B) Emergency
C) Crisis
D) Problem
E) Not a concern
Leftovers: Yesterday’s News Today: As you know, there’s just too much news. The news cycle spins faster than anyone can follow. To mix metaphors terribly, here are a few links from yesterday’s news sausage.
The Clown Empire Strikes Back
In indicting Greg Craig, the Barr-run injustice department begins its well-orchestrated counter-attack in what will likely be a running back and forth battle until the next election, barring a quick impeachment attack that could send things in a new direction. Barr has turned our Justice Department into his own “Department of the Defense of Trump”.
None of which means Craig is innocent. Skullduggery runs deep, as no one says. But it’s true.
“Trump’s developing an addiction to executive orders that rubber-stamp these climate-killing projects,” said Brett Hartl, the Center for Biological Diversity’s government affairs director. “
I sometimes hear people worry that impeachment will create a constitutional crisis. My answer is that we are in a constitutional crisis, in this case a real showdown between the executive and legislative branches. The clown war is using live ammunition now, and we in the bleachers are in danger. Impeachment is the only constitutional weapon Congress has in that fight. If they are counting on a stacked Supreme Court to decide anything in their favor, they are not living in the real world.
While the clown wars in Congress continue, Trump continues to do real damage to our collective chances of survival. The current danger this man presents is why I argue so strongly for impeachment. We cannot afford to wait two more years, or give him the chance of winning the 2020 election.
And, last but not least, from the Planet of the Apes files
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613277/chinese-scientists-have-put-human-brain-genes-in-monkeysand-yes-they-may-be-smarter/
From the side, it looks like the last thing we need right now is more smart apes running around this planet.
I’d say A)
Most people alive today will have their life shortened as a result of climate change.