I’m with Jane. We have a real climate emergency which will shorten the lives of our children and grandchildren prematurely. We need a president and leaders who recognize imperative of climate change.
What we don’t know can hurt us
A friend who is suffering with a bout of poison ivy shared information about the increased prevalence of poison ivy in our environment and the increased toxicity of the plant. This is brought on by increased levels of CO2 in our atmosphere. The increase in CO2 is directly related to climate change. Be sure to read more about it here from The Druids Garden.
Recently our daughter and our grandson had a bout with hand foot and mouth disease. It’s a viral infection common in young children. Our daughter’s experience was more acute and she was unable eat for a number of days as her mouth and throat were affected. There is a relationship between temperature and humidity which makes hand foot and mouth disease more common.
Yesterday we had the pleasure of spending an afternoon and early evening as guests of our son and his family on the shores of Conesus Lake. There was a lot of algae and ‘seaweed’ in the lake that was churned up by the increased number of boaters. I learned that the increase in boaters is due to the rising lake level on nearby Lake Ontario which has made it difficult for boaters to dock and launch their small craft. These recreational boaters are coming to Conesus because they can launch their boats without difficulty.
Most people think of addiction to alcohol or other narcotics. Most people have never thought of our over reliance on fossil fuels which are exacerbating this climate change as addiction. In the late 19th century a famous American politician gave a speech about mankind being crucified on a cross of gold. I wonder how many consider that we are crucifying mankind on a cross of fossil fuels which is raising the water levels of lakes and oceans. It’s harming our environment and increasing the spread of disease. Meanwhile know nothing and do nothing politicians wring their hands and cry that we cannot harm our economy by taking reasonable action to prevent this debacle. The economy will be a moot point when the world becomes uninhabitable. Even the oligarchs who profit from the addiction will lose their livelihoods and lives.
Ignorance is not bliss. We will follow the dinosaurs into extinction. Earth will survive but we won’t.
The real national emergency is climate change and gun violence
I just heard on cable news and Twitter that the president of the United States is going to declare a national emergency to get the necessary funding for his vanity project which is a wall on our southern border. Nearly every intelligent source I’ve read or listened to knows that there is no emergency on our southern border. Mexicans and other groups who are fleeing dangerous countries in Central America are legitimate refugees. For years I’ve listened as primarily Republican politicians politicize immigration and never do anything to address the issue. It’s another one of their divisive issues designed to split the electorate and mask the real issues facing our country.
Today is the one year anniversary of the horrific massacre of school children and their teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. There approximately 300 million guns in the United States today and though many of them are owned by law abiding citizens however those guns are designed for one purpose and that is to kill and inflict physical harm. Worse still the kind of gun that was used at last year is an assault weapon which is designed to be a weapon of war and is not at all necessary to hunt game animals with. Following the tragedy of Parkland and the countless other gun violence incidents which have occurred over the years at schools, theatres, shopping malls, fast food establishments et cetera there has been no national emergency declared nor any substantive legislative action at the national level. There is a real emergency. Every time I sit in a public place like a movie theatre I wonder if there is some kook in the audience who has an agenda. There are no safe places in America anymore. Even churches, synagogues and mosques have been invaded by gun violence.
In addition to that horrific dereliction of duty by our elected representatives we have the emerging climate crisis which threatens our existence and all living creatures on our planet. Recently I watched a congressional hearing where a member of the GOP mocked the seriousness of the Green New Deal which has recently been in the news. Why are both of these horrific tragedies unaddressed? Our government is run by corporate interests who care little about the rights of the citizens of the United States of America.