Let’s dispense with the good news first because there is not much of it these days. We are fortunate to live in San Mateo County where we have almost perfect weather most of the time. We aren’t experiencing the fire calamities in Mendocino and Sonora/Napa nor the flooding in Santa Barbara which has also experienced killer wildfires or the scorching heat and forest fires of Southern California. Yes, we lack enough rain and most of our lawns have turned brown if we are trying to be careful with water, but we have not suffered the scorched-earth experience of some of the rest of the state, county and world.
Technically we are not at war. There is no draft so most of our children and grandchildren are spared the horrors of being shipped to Afghanistan or Iraq where we seem to be in a perpetual battle with no end in sight.
Taxes are low for some, especially our property taxes compared to other coastal states, but our living expenses are among the highest in the nation if we are recent homeowners or renters.
The stock market seems to be doing well, unemployment is down but our country’s deficit is now a ravenous creature in the high billions and there are projections for another big crash.
The convictions of two of You Know Who’s close advisors, Paul Manafort, his one-time campaign manager, and Michael Cohen, his one-time personal attorney, are also indications that the legal net is tightening around YKW. But to what avail? Republicans don’t seem to care and they are still in charge.
That’s the good news.
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There is so much bad stuff going on, it is hard to know where to begin. So here are two stories which really shook me up these past few weeks. The first was the Sunday magazine section of the New York Times which was dedicated to just a single issue — climate change and how we failed to keep the Earth’s rising temperature at a viable level. Despite the tweets of YKW proclaiming it isn’t so, trashing and taking the United States out of the multi-national Paris climate accord, and appointing stewards of the coal industry to head the agency supposed to protect us from disaster, the perils of climate change are here now. Coal is the main contributor to the increase in carbon emissions which in turn is causing the Earth’s temperature to rise, the ocean levels to increase and creating the extreme weather — killer hurricanes, wildfires and drought. Under the new Environmental Protection Agency, revised pollution rules are expected to cost more than 1,400 deaths per year by 2030 from heart and lung disease from all the bad stuff in the air.
And it is also record-breaking hot. It was around 90 degrees at the Arctic Circle in Norway and Sweden in August while the hottest temperature ever recorded in Scotland was 92. And Japan reached the highest ever at 106 degrees.
***
Of course, there are things we each can do to make a difference. And many are. But the devastation from climate change is here now and time is running out. This is not a political issue. It is a global one. One which will determine the fate, not only of our country, but the planet and will have serious consequences for us, our children and grandchildren. NOT fake news or fake science.
The second story which has received less attention was the lead article in a recent Review section of The Wall Street Journal. The president of Hungary, Viktor Orban, schooled at Yale, was expected to lead his country to democratic ways after communist rule. Instead, he has become Europe’s leading autocrat and critic of immigration and the European Union (sound familiar?). He now believes that it is in his country’s best interests to align with Russia, China and other Asian countries because the United States is on the way down, NATO is weak and Europe, similar to the United States, is not what it used to be. That’s pretty scary stuff. The United States is not only neither great now nor great again but on a downward trajectory. And like Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned, YKW is tweeting as he leads us downward and away from our ideals, our strength and our friends.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
Sue- sorry your having such a bad time with life. Let me be the first to say how sorry I am for you and that I hope you feel better soon. For many of us, this is the best of times. The stock market is up and so is our economy. Unemployment is at historical lows and jobs are plentiful. We have a president who actually loves our country instead of the other guy and America is respected once again throughout the world. So I hope that cloud over your head clears for you as you don't want to be so depressed in your golden years. Turn that frown upside down.
Donald Trump respected throughout the world??? Have you no contact outside your own limited environment? I just returned from Europe, where people and media are embarrassed on behalf of us! Trump is a laughingstock, with zero respect. President Obama, on the other hand, enjoys tremendous respect, while Trump has been able to ride high on his accomplishments. So far … Btw.: Do you read any foreign newspapers? No?
What do I care what people in Europe think? They are having problems just staying together as a Union. They should care what Americans think. Huge immigration problems, social benefits funding problems, terrorist attacks on the streets and the list goes on. I like America thank you very much, not foreign Socialist Democracy's. Funny when I read the news the EU leaders don't seem to be laughing as you say Jorg, they have a look of worry in having to negotiate against a master instead of a stooge like Obama.
Sorry you feel there’s not a lot of good news. I usually enjoy reading your columns, but not when you devolve into childish behavior, such as using YKW. Perhaps, instead of submitting another SUE Writing Another Grievance Event, you can stick to being politics-free. Otherwise, your legacy will not be as a former mayor of San Mateo, but as just another person with Trump Derangement Syndrome. Carl Bernstein’s reporting of Watergate will no longer be his legacy – his debunked story at fake news CNN will be his lasting legacy. Also, I believe Manafort and Cohen were guilty of crimes that are not related to Trump, so I'm not worried about any noose tightening on our great President. Obviously, I'm not alone, since President Trump's approval rating is higher now than before Manafort's and Cohen's. Stay politics-free and keep up the good work!
Ms. Lempert, thank you for bringing attention to threats we face from climate change. The State of California just released its fourth Climate Change Assessment report. It deserve very careful examination. Every level of government should be taking sesrious steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Here is a link to the California report: http://www.climateassessment.ca.gov/
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(6) comments
Sue- sorry your having such a bad time with life. Let me be the first to say how sorry I am for you and that I hope you feel better soon. For many of us, this is the best of times. The stock market is up and so is our economy. Unemployment is at historical lows and jobs are plentiful. We have a president who actually loves our country instead of the other guy and America is respected once again throughout the world. So I hope that cloud over your head clears for you as you don't want to be so depressed in your golden years. Turn that frown upside down.
Donald Trump respected throughout the world??? Have you no contact outside your own limited environment? I just returned from Europe, where people and media are embarrassed on behalf of us! Trump is a laughingstock, with zero respect. President Obama, on the other hand, enjoys tremendous respect, while Trump has been able to ride high on his accomplishments. So far …
Btw.: Do you read any foreign newspapers? No?
What do I care what people in Europe think? They are having problems just staying together as a Union. They should care what Americans think. Huge immigration problems, social benefits funding problems, terrorist attacks on the streets and the list goes on. I like America thank you very much, not foreign Socialist Democracy's. Funny when I read the news the EU leaders don't seem to be laughing as you say Jorg, they have a look of worry in having to negotiate against a master instead of a stooge like Obama.
Good opinion piece and agree 100%
Saddened by Mccann's death...true HERO and brave to speak his mind directly...AKA dis-inviting POTUS
Most of the damage can be undone...except for the wrench into the climate change agencies & the rest of the world working to resolve climate change
Thank you Susan !!
Sorry you feel there’s not a lot of good news. I usually enjoy reading your columns, but not when you devolve into childish behavior, such as using YKW. Perhaps, instead of submitting another SUE Writing Another Grievance Event, you can stick to being politics-free. Otherwise, your legacy will not be as a former mayor of San Mateo, but as just another person with Trump Derangement Syndrome. Carl Bernstein’s reporting of Watergate will no longer be his legacy – his debunked story at fake news CNN will be his lasting legacy. Also, I believe Manafort and Cohen were guilty of crimes that are not related to Trump, so I'm not worried about any noose tightening on our great President. Obviously, I'm not alone, since President Trump's approval rating is higher now than before Manafort's and Cohen's. Stay politics-free and keep up the good work!
Ms. Lempert, thank you for bringing attention to threats we face from climate change. The State of California just released its fourth Climate Change Assessment report. It deserve very careful examination. Every level of government should be taking sesrious steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Here is a link to the California report: http://www.climateassessment.ca.gov/
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