Category Archives: environmental news

environmental news

Atmospheric River update …

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — I am about to skedaddle from this lovely coastal city … apparently in the nick of time.

The weathermen and women tell us that the Atmospheric River is about to start “flowing” again over the region sometime Tuesday. Toby the Puppy and I hope to be on the road en route north to a coastal town just south of the Oregon border.

Does that mean we can breathe easily? Hardly, according to my family members here. One of them said we would be driving “into the belly of the beast.”

Well, OK. I am aware of the hazards. I have told ’em all that we are prepared to stop whenever the need arises.

The locals here are understandably full of the nervous jerks when it comes to this weather pattern. It has been — to say the very least — a highly unusual winter.

It has been a cold winter and a very wet one, indeed. The mountain snowpack isn’t quite a record, but I understand it’s close.

But, Toby the Puppy and I have a bit of a schedule to keep. Fortunately, we’ll be staying with family members over the course of the next several days on the road. Which means we aren’t bound by “cancellation policies” at various lodging establishments.

It’s been an adventure so far. I am just going to hope for the best as we motor on.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news

Water, water everywhere

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The hours-long drive along California Highway 99 opened my eyes to the ravages that Mother Nature has brought to this wonderful part of the country.

They have water here. Too much water!

The playas are full; some of them are overflowing. I ventured across several bridges spanning rivers. I glanced at the rivers as I sped by. Lete me be clear: I don’t know what the “normal” streamflow looks like for the San Joaquin River, but what I saw as I glanced at the river was far from what I am certain is normal.

I got a text message from my sister in Santa Cruz, telling me it was “pouring” once more. I’ll be heading that direction in a couple of days. She did tell me the other day that if her neighborhood is underwater that “the entire city is gone,” which is her way of telling me they’re fairly safe from the deluge. I do hope so.

The weather forecasters apparently are in love with the term “atmospheric river,” which sounds like a cool term to use to describe the torrents that have fallen for the past several weeks. I’ll say, though, that the current term du jour is more appealing than “bomb cyclone,” which has been used to describe previous events of this magnitude.

There well could be more of this madness awaiting me as I continue my travel north from the Bay Area in a few days. I plan to see my niece in Eureka, which is on the coast just south of the Oregon border.

A respite from The Flood would be so nice. Indeed, I believe the good folks here have enough water to last them a while.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news

Human nature = human mystery

Human nature and all its complexities provide human beings with one of this world’s greatest mysteries.

We’re coming out of a cold snap that enveloped much of North Texas. We awoke this morning to 20-something-degree temperatures, but it has “warmed” up to the mid-40s. Tomorrow it’ll be even warmer.

The mystery is this: Why do we humans bitch when it gets too cold and then bitch during the Dog Days of Summer (no pun intended) when it gets too hot?

Do you want more irony? Suppose we lived in an area where the climate is perfect every single day of the year. By “perfect” I mean 72 degrees, with no wind and low humidity; it would rain for about two hours every third or fourth day.

The irony of that circumstance is that we would complain about the weather “never changing.” That we would want more variety. That we would welcome a snowstorm or a heat wave … just to make life interesting.

We human beings. We’re all so fickle.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news, environmental news, local news

Coastal protection: It’s a big … deal!

Protecting our coasts ought to be among the top issues facing members of Congress. It is with that admonition that I welcome news about legislation designed to do precisely that in the wake of a monster hurricane that stormed ashore in Texas.

The U.S. House is considering the most expensive coastal protection project in history. It’s called the National Defense Authorization Act and its pricetag is a doozy: $34 billion.

Hurricane Ike roared across Galveston Island in September 2008, threatening the Houston Channel and putting the nation’s petrochemical industry in dire peril.

Now, I have no intention of taking credit I don’t deserve, but I happen to be one journalist who’s been talking about coastal protection for decades. It became a favorite issue of mine when I worked for the Beaumont Enterprise from 1984 until 1995. I became acquainted with a Texas land commissioner, Garry Mauro, who also deemed coastal protection to be critical to our national survival.

Coastal erosion long has been a hazard to the Gulf Coast, with wetlands being consumed by rising gulf tides every year.

I am heartened to see the aggressive measures taken by Congress. As The Associated Press reported, “The Texas coastal protection project far outstrips any of the 24 other projects greenlit by the bill” under consideration by the House.

Hey, it’s a big deal! How big? Consider that one particular project calls for the construction of a coastal barrier the size of a 60-story building laid on its side that aims to prevent storm surge from entering Galveston Bay and endangering the Houston Ship Channel.

Construction will take two decades to complete.

Got it? That’s big! It’s also important!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news, local news

Say ‘no’ to this gasoline ban

I am not generally inclined to protest local government’s desire to make our lives more tolerable, but Dallas City Council is pondering an issue that goes too far in ensuring such comfort.

The city is considering a ban on all gasoline-powered lawn equipment. Yep, you can’t fire up the lawnmower or the leaf blower after 2030 if the council proceeds with this effort.

The Dallas Morning News editorial board has spoken already on this nutty notion and the paper makes a lot of sense in saying the council might be reaching way beyond its grasp.

The Morning News said in an editorial published the other day: Promoters of the ban will point to climate change and air quality as harmful, but the council presentation last month included no evidence that is true.

One element of this idea does make sense. The city, according to the DMN, ought to ban contract landscapers from using this equipment if it sees fit. No problem with that. However, if Mr. or Ms. Homeowner wants to use a gas-powered lawnmower and leaf blower to gussy up their yard, they should be allowed to do so.

Granted, I don’t live in Dallas. I live a bit north of Big D in Princeton. I kind of fear that that the city fathers and mothers here might get an idea to follow Dallas’s lead.

Don’t go there, Princeton City Hall.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news, national news, political news

Let’s set differences aside

Media representatives have been yapping in the past few days about the “political differences” that exist between President Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

They point out that the differences might stand in the way of the federal government rushing aid to the stricken state in the wake of Hurricane Ian’s destruction.

Let’s set the differences aside … shall we?

DeSantis is being talked about as a potential 2024 Republican candidate for president. Joe Biden is likely to run for re-election.

First things first. President Biden has some comforting to deliver to beleaguered fellow Americans. One of them happens to be his potential rival, DeSantis.

The two men will meet later today. They likely will talk repeatedly in the weeks to come as the feds seek to help Florida rebuild from the destruction that Ian brought to the state’s Gulf Coast.

There will be time for the political stuff. I am not interested in hearing about the differences between these men. I just want them to reach out to each other in search of common ground to repair the lives shattered by Mother Nature’s wrath.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news, local news

Change of weather brings cheer

I want to take a moment or two away from politics and policy to extol the virtues of seasonal change.

It took a few days after the official arrival of the autumnal equinox, aka the arrival of fall, but I am feeling a bit more cheerful tonight.

The weather topped out here in North Texas at something a bit north of 80 degrees. It began to cool dramatically as the sun approached the western horizon.

I do look forward to the seasonal changes. From summer to autumn is particularly welcome this year. It was as if spring never really arrived. We froze for weeks on end during the winter of 2021-22. Then summer arrived … with a vengeance!

I joked this morning that I was “ready for summer” when I saw that the temperature was 47 degrees. I was just kidding, of course.

I am not kidding, though, in welcoming autumn’s arrival. Soon enough, autumn will give way to winter. There’s chatter out there about whether our electrical grid can withstand another killer freeze which paralyzed us in February 2021.

I won’t worry about that just yet. I just want to welcome the seasonal change. It’s always a good day when we can go from dawn to dusk without turning on the air conditioner.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news, Joe Biden

TEA party goes silent over aid to Florida

Hey, do you remember the TEA party gadflies who bitched out loud over billions of dollars in federal aid going to states battling natural disasters?

They would gripe about spending money without cutting expenses elsewhere to pay for the aid. My favorite example was the aid earmarked for Joplin, Mo., years ago as that city sought to recover from tornado damage; some Republicans in Congress resisted, demanding cuts in spending to pay for the aid.

Now come the Florida hurricane relief efforts. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of the TEA party golden boys, has resisted sending aid to other parts of the country. This time? He wants all he can get. Frankly, the state he governs deserves it! However, where are the TEA party stalwarts who complain about spending this kind of money.

Oh, wait. It might be because Gov. DeSantis is a rising political star and, by golly, the TEA party faithful dare not deny his state the assistance it deserves.

We are, after all, the United States of America.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news, national news

Yet another salute to first responders

Hurricane Ian has become the latest natural enemy No. 1 to visit the United States of America.

The storm slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast, bringing storm surges that exceeded 12 feet. The death count from the monster storm has yet to be ascertained, but I did hear that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has predicted it could go into “the hundreds.”

Oh, my. We are left where the weather has been gorgeous to pray for the first responders who do what they do, which is they run toward the danger. Firefighters, police officers, medical EMTs all have answered the call, which they promise to do when they pin the badges to their shirts.

Texans who are no strangers to natural calamity have rushed to aid. Oncor, the electric utility, has deployed 500 technicians to help restore power to millions of Floridians. The Cajun navy, comprising residents and their boats headed toward the storm. Texas Baptist Men, long involved in assisting where emergencies arise, again are on the job.

President Biden has declared Florida to be major disaster area, which means the federal government will expedite aid as officials on site ascertain their needs.

That’s what residents of the United States of America do. They rush to the aid of others.

Meanwhile, the rest of the nation can offer plenty of prayer and good karma.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news, International news

Will the king follow the queen’s example?

Queen Elizabeth II established many hallmarks that set her apart during her 70-year reign as the United Kingdom’s monarch. One of them was her reticence to get involved politically.

As near as anyone could tell, Her Majesty kept every single opinion she had on pressing issues of the day to herself. She chose to keep the most private counsel possible.

She is now gone, of course. King Charles III has ascended to the throne. His Majesty has spent a good bit of his life getting involved — deeply, I should add — in matters that affect the entire world. I am thinking of this moment of climate change. He also has been outspoken about HIV/AIDS research and, while he was married to his first wife, Princess Diana, in the proliferation of land mines left behind after conflicts around the world.

These all are noble causes that deserved royal attention and his great and eternal credit, the king lent his name to those efforts.

As an outsider looking in from far away, I am left to wonder now whether King Charles III will use his even more elevated platform to continue the fight against climate change. Or will he follow his dear Mum’s example and step away, seeking to preserve the standing she enjoyed as the universally loved and admired British monarch?

On the matter involving climate change, I hope he chooses the former path and continues to lend his considerable standing to the planet’s greatest existential threat.

We only have one planet to inhabit. We need to take care of it. Your Majesty, lend your voice to that battle.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com