Crippen update- FWIW There are some very important things coming down the road you should take very, very seriously. 

1.  You need to take the global warming threat very, very seriously. Right now it directly threatens everyone in the USA and even the world, especially since a seemingly large population chooses to reject it as a blind political decision.  

Rising temperatures have worsened extreme weather events and sorry, that’s not politics, it’s a natural fact. The heat extremes in the Western USA are incompatible with human life. Asphalt highways are cracking down the middle. Huge numbers of people without air conditioning are huddled in cooled warehouses. Water reservoirs dependent on winter snow banks are drying up. Lakes and rivers are drying up and as they do so, drinking water for western states will dry up as well as crops that the eastern USA depend on. There is no way to create alternate drinking water resources for the huge demand in California, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona. Distilling seawater is phenomenally expensive, unaffordable except by raising already oppressive taxes.

Over 81 percent of the river’s hydropower capacity comes from the Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams. Hydropower dams along the Colorado River and its tributaries are a significant source of electricity for over 780,000 households per year. Approximately 30 million people rely at least partially on the Colorado and its tributaries for fresh water. As the Colorado River drops its level due to heat related dehydration, the ability of the Hoover Dam to provide electrical energy and fresh water to users is in serious jeopardy. Climate change is predicted to further decrease stream flow and reservoir storage along the Colorado, dramatically decreasing hydropower capacity at a time when electricity demand is increasing due to regional population growth. Policymakers must adopt incentives that promote sustainable energy alternatives, and reduce energy demand throughout the region. All ignored by Trump, et al.

Wildfires are again burning completely out of control. This is the worst fire season the American West has ever seen. Wildfires in California have consumed more than 4 million acres this year, an area roughly the size of Connecticut. In Oregon and Washington, another 2 million acres have gone up in flames. Major cities such as San Francisco, Portland and Seattle have suffered some of the most polluted air on the planet. The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research estimates that poor air quality from this year’s wildfires will kill thousands of people in California alone, most of them elderly. As wildfires become more common because of climate change, such deadly consequences will increasingly be felt across the country.

Huge chunks of ice in the Antarctic the size of New Jersey have broken apart and there is already evidence that the water level in coastal cities is rising and will continue to do so. This is a recipe for catastrophe in New York City, all of coastal Florida, New Orleans and other areas at risk. The amount of money that will be lost to the economy as well as the loss of physical infrastructure is stunning. Coral reefs have been bleached and are increasingly at risk for the delicate oceanic infrastructure we all depend on for seafood. Mosquitoes are expanding their territory spreading more disease that will require huge resources to eradicate if it’s even possible. 

Why is all this happening? Its happening because of GLOBAL WARMING, we humans burning fossil fuels and chopping down forests, causing average temperatures to rise worldwide. Earth has already warmed by about 1 degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since the 19th century, before industry started to boom. That global warming trend is increasingly disrupting our climate. What can be done to interdict this frightening trend? Not much but there are some things everyone should at least consider.

A.  As a group with power to address laws and regulations that affect us, Republicans largely refuse to believe that global warming exists and work hard to ignore the obvious, a plot by radical leftists. This is a recipe for inevitable disaster. Do what it takes to insure Republicans don’t get into power in congress. Go out and vote against them. Insure that their current strategy to limit voting rights doesn’t do so. Make sure everyone in your area gets out to vote against the likes of obstructionist McConnell, hypocrite Lindsay Graham and mental defective Marjorie Taylor Greene.

B.  Do whatever you can to keep Donald Trump from being re-elected in 2024. Donald Trump has been to climate regulation as General Sherman was to Atlanta.Whatever you think of President Biden, he has restored many of the 100-plus environmental regulations that Trump rolled back and mercifully got us back into the Paris Accords. Putting Trump back in office again will guarantee, among other atrocities, that he will reinstate as many of these detrimental anti-environmental policies as he can. 

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere first hit the critical amount of 400 parts per million in 2016, the year Mr. Trump was elected. But Trump put economic growth above emissions targets, arguing that climate and other environmental regulations were harming job creation. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide levels reached 417 parts per million, the highest-level recorded in human history. Biden is doing what he can to try and fix this. 

2.  The issue of non-polluting energy sources. 

a.  Wind energy.  100% non-polluting. Reduces dependence on fossil fuels. Wind energy industry supports a large domestic industrial force, currently employing over 88,000 people and growing.  Harnessing offshore wind is especially promising for coastal cities. The benefits of this include wind energy being more abundant, consistent, and stronger than land-based wind. Our wind energy generation is growing. In 2015, wind represented the largest source of all newly installed US electricity generation. In the past, Trump has ignored this benefit.

b. Solar energy.  100% non-polluting. Unlike fossil fuels, solar energy does not deplete its resources. One of the biggest benefits of solar energy is the always-ready availability of the source, the amount of sunlight the earth receives per year making the sun the most abundant source of energy worldwide, trumping coal and other fossil fuels. Trump says this form of energy decreases jobs. This is nonsense. Good paying jobs in the expanding solar energy are expanding. Consider installing this source of renewable energy to your home. 

c. Electric cars. I predicted the exponential explosion of all- electric vehicles shortly after the introduction of the Toyota Prius, a hybrid vehicle that only increased gas mileage because the engine stopped at red traffic lights. As of 2019, the global stock of pure electric passenger cars totaled 4.8 million units. By the end of 2020 there were more than 10 million electric cars sold, an increase of 41% from prior year. Several countries have established a phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles, and California, which is one of the largest vehicle markets, has an executive order to ban sales of new gasoline powered vehicles by 2035.

My wife currently drives a Chevrolet Bolt, an all-electric vehicle with an effective range of around 240 miles that has virtually no upkeep cost. The dealer plugs it into their computer once a year for upgrades. Battery technology is increasing exponentially and although a recognized risk, battery fires are exceptionally rare. My wife’s Bolt sits in our garage next to my dinosaur Ferrari 360 that gets 10-mpg gas mileage of super premium fuel in town. My wife is absolutely crazy about her Bolt and it’s about as fast as my Ferrari, using no fossil fuel.

The Tesla is the fastest selling electric car with an effective range now of over 350 miles. The fascinating thing about the Tesla is the large terminal screen that shows the position of the car in real time along with the positions of any other vehicle in front of, by either side or behind, as they all roll along the road. Currently, there are huge numbers of new American electric vehicles on the road including a new Mustang, a Ford 150 pickup and a plethora of new Japanese cars. Charging stations are popping up all over the country like dandelions. There are many government incentives to purchase electric vehicles. Tesla is testing a rapid 30-minute battery change instead of charging for freeway travelers. 

These are things to think critically about, especially the issue of insuring Republicans stay out of the power to obliterate clean, renewable sources of energy in favor of the Governor of West Virginia’s coal resources.