Thick ground fog this early Monday on California’s north coast, and the start of another work week, but not really for us asshole-retirees, since we’re already cruising in a thick ground fog.
Not necessarily metaphorical weather-speak, either. Yet in reality, maybe more of a drift, less of a cruise. And maybe, too, more of bewilderment than actual fog.
Authenticity sucks.
And our only authentic environment sucks, too. Last Saturday, President Obama in his weekly radio address emphasized reality: ‘“Wednesday is Earth Day, a day to appreciate and protect this precious planet we call home. And today, there’s no greater threat to our planet than climate change.”‘
And the bottom line, adding: ‘“This is the only planet we’ve got. And years from now, I want to be able to look our children and grandchildren in the eye and tell them that we did everything we could to protect it.”‘
(Illustration found here).
Yes, Wednesday is the 45th installment of Earth Day, and USAToday has some good graphics on what’s happened in the past generation in those ‘days’ of the earth, and via a media viewpoint, a good piece at Columbia Journalism Review.
However, most-likely the best way to celebrate Earth Day, is right-off-the-bat have a good cry. Off the CJR article: ‘So, here’s the takeaway: News outlets planning a historic perspective piece for the 45th anniversary of Earth Day should look not just for how the state of the environment has changed, but how the environmentalists have changed.‘
Sorry, there’s only one beat to the Earth Day chime — the state of the environment is the only thing that matters. In April 1970, the world/the USA hadn’t a real clue to the environmental horror even then growing in our midst, and now pretty-much has gone out-of-control.
And 45 years later, no longer theory or a future event. News on Friday as the noose of heat tightens around the throat of mankind.
Via LiveScience:
January, February and March set new high-temperature records, respectively; each month was warmer than any on the books since record keeping started 136 years ago.
March also ended the hottest 12-month period on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported.
Seven of the past 11 months have tied or set new record-high monthly temperatures.
In March, Earth’s average temperature was 56.4 degrees Fahrenheit (13.6 degrees Celsius), breaking the previous record set in 2010 by 0.09 F (0.05 C).
The Japan Meteorological Agency also put March in first place, as the hottest month ever in its records, while NASA put it in third place, behind 2010 and 2002.
Yet, all three agencies agree that the 12 months to date are the hottest ever.
[Fishy Rain to Fire Whirlwinds: The World’s Weirdest Weather].
So the day of the earth is becoming desert like. And to make the physical matters even worse, are the obstructionists — people who don’t want to look their children in the eye. (As Per also last week):
A federal appeals court heard arguments Thursday in two cases challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s far-reaching proposal to cut Earth-warming pollution from the nation’s coal-fired power plants.
Two out of the three judges on the panel expressed doubts about the lawsuits.
Judges Thomas Griffith and Brett Kavanaugh seemed to agree with lawyers defending the EPA that the suits are premature because the agency has not yet made the rule final.
The lawsuits — one from a coalition of 15 states and another brought by Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp., the nation’s largest privately held coal mining company — are part of a growing political attack from opponents who say the move is illegal and will kill jobs, cripple demand for coal and drive up electricity prices.
A clear for instance, from Florida’s Marco Rubio on the TV yesterday: ‘“I do not believe in climate change in the way that some of these people out there are trying to make us believe. I believe the climate is changing because there’s never been a moment where the climate is not changing.”‘
And it’s not just that one particular asshole, there’s a shitload of them, a whole party-boat/clown-car full of them.
Rubio and Florida qualify as ironic idiots. And the scene of President Obama’s scheduled Earth Day speech — via MSNBC:
Obama’s choice of the Florida Everglades as the setting for the speech is significant for the ecologically delicate nature of the area, as well as the fact that parts of the state are already routinely dealing with the effects of sea level rise as a result of climate change.
Miami is regularly subject to “sunny day flooding” when tidal waters back up through the city’s drains.
The location is also politically charged, after it was recently revealed that Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection has been banned from using the term “climate change.”
Though the governor’s office denies the charge, DEP members have come forward publicly and the order has been such an open secret as to become a joke at a government hearing.
Soon the joke will lose its ha,ha.