Tag Archives: environment

Hurricanes and Politics

I’ve been on the phone on and off today with my son who lives in Manhattan. He and his friends are having a hurricane party in his apartment–which is on the 14th floor of a new (read:lots of glass) building in a low-lying area one block from the Hudson river.

If that sounds like a worried mother to you, you are right.

The very unusual weather we are seeing more and more is to a large extent a product of climate change. It will get worse. How much worse depends on whether we get serious about the health of planet Earth. The scientific consensus on environmental issues is overwhelming.

And yet, only ONE Republican currently running for President (John Huntsman) admits to believing that climate change is real. For that matter, he’s the only one who believes in evolution.

That there are actually people who will vote for any of these throwbacks is absolutely terrifying.

Comments

It’s the Little Things

As good novelists know, it is often the small, seemingly unimportant choices people make that tells you volumes about their character and values.

This week, in the U.S. House, the new Republican majority reversed a decision by Nancy Pelosi that had required the House cafeteria to use compostable cutlery and recyclable paper cups. Instead, the cafeteria will go back to using Styrofoam coffee cups and plastic cutlery.

Tells us a lot about their arrogance, contempt for science, and unwillingness to make even the simplest personal accommodations to benefit the environment.

Comments