WEATHER

Here we are, getting ready for Thanksgiving and the weather prediction has changed twice in two days. First, snow on the 27th and 28 at the 7,000 foot level. Later in the day, a new assessment, snow expected as low as the 5,000 foot level.
Today, my neighbor heard a radio broadcast predicting snow at the 2,000 foot level tomorrow. Since I live at the 2,500 foot level, I scrambled to get my outside chores finished. Blew off the acorns from my deck and driveway and covered a few sensitive plants that don't take well to snow and ice.

While I complain about this turnabout weather, I'm reading all about climate change turning wildfires into megafires.  Monarch butterfly populations plummeting, Rocket fuel in kid's cereal. Lead seeping into the Gila River. Geez, does it never end?  It sounds like we are doomed but the name of the magazine I'm reading is Solutions and the solutions are out there. People working to leverage change on every front. This information comes from the Environmental Defense Fund.

Clean energy job growth is a centerpiece for solving the climate crisis. The fastest clean energy growth is led by four Republican Governors, Nevada, Kansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky and one Democratic Governor, Pennsylvania.  If the feds don't do it our State Leaders are bold and smart enough to step in. Wind and Solar are now the cheapest source of new electricity across two-thirds of the world, according to EDF.

Climate Corps are committed to helping create 20,000 jobs and bring in $25 Billion in investment  and slash unhealthy emissions in Ohio. A report called Powering Ohio brings a new top tier set of grad students trained by EDF, promoting renewable electric vehicles and reaching out to cities and institutions in the U.S, and China to cut energy use and create sustainable supply chains that set strict emissions reduction goals.  Commerce at its safest.

EDF is helping restore 30,000 acres of Monarch butterfly habitat in California's Central Valley. Oregon fisherman, Brad Pettinger is using sensors, analytics and artificial intelligence to track catches to keep our ocean healthy. Beia Spiller uses satellite and health data to calculate the social cost of air pollution.
EDF is working for a program to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta habitats for salmon, water users and wildlife protection.

 EDF has warriors for clean air and water. They have scientists that can measure particulate in the air and provide evidence  that give  depth to City Officials worried about their communities. Land loss in Louisiana has in the past been a tightly guarded secret. Now, they are planting oyster beds that  filter fertilizer run off and help abate storm surges from washing away soil and sand. Places that Jim and I visited are now underwater and were already threatened when we were there. This is a 50 billion 50 year state plan to save lives and coastal fishing and marshes. It would be so much cheaper to not let things like this happen in the first place.

 Shakeila James from EDF's Moms For Clean Air has introduced Community RX that brings black women from the South to fight for their communities. Black children are three times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma. Their mission has been adopted by prominent black pastors and has reached 2000 fighting women. Way to go!  Never underestimate the power of a mad, protective mom.

I was surprised to learn that there are more fires in the Eastern and Southern United States than the West. Those in the West are are bigger and hotter and more destructive. But new forest management plans can help reduce that threat. There is so much more to be done. Texas is a holdout, resisting the evidence of climate change.

Eventually, they will have to come to the table and work with their native populations and their people will find themselves and their homes and land susceptible to the dangers of ignoring climate change.