The Most Important Issue in 2023

As the Hurriquake hit Southern California, critters came out of their usual habitats, looking for places to hide. They even sought refuge in residential areas. This little guy, one of the lethal rattlesnakes I was taught to keep a keen eye out for while hiking in the foothills around Los Angeles as a kid, showed up in a friend’s backyard as the storm was moving in. There he was, on the other side of sliding glass doors that were fortunately shut—after my friends (the amazing Kathy Griffin and her husband Randy Bick no less) had to bring their dogs in because a coyote had shown up.

And, in Washington state, people made narrow escapes through flames, like this video, from Airway Heights Fire Chief Mitch Metzger.

Fires close to Spokane shot up the city’s air quality index to 489 over the weekend. It had dropped back down to 188 by Monday morning. That’s still in a category where “some members of the general public may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.”

Chart from AirNow.gov

That happened as much of the West Coast was experiencing fire outbreaks, as was Canada and after fire destroyed Lahaina on the Island of Maui.

How long before we start referring to this as fire season?

We haven’t yet hit the peak part of hurricane season this year, although the National Weather Service has predicted a near-normal season. But warmer waters enable storms. Ocean surface temperatures around parts of Florida and the Bahamas have heated up to more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit, providing fuel for storms.

I am obviously not a climate scientist, but you don’t have to be one to appreciate that we are seeing dramatic changes. Not just transient weather, but climate. In the news we see floods, fires, and weather disturbances that are no longer 100 years storms, but the new normal. That normal is decidedly abnormal.

This is all happening as Donald Trump still occupies centerstage in our politics. Ultimately, it may well be the most damaging part of his legacy. At a time when we should be focused on fighting climate change, we are forced to fight to hold onto democracy.

A friend recently observed that we live in a time where the political fight should be about which party has the best plan for dealing with climate change. I’ve been unable to get that thought out of my mind ever since she said it. With climate change manifesting itself on our doorsteps, you’d think it would be the focus as the parties battle over who gets to lead for the next four years—which party has the best plan, and the quickest one, for dealing with the climate emergency we face.

But much of the country is still stuck on its fealty to Trump at a time when we need smart, nimble democratic leaders (small d), to face these serious challenges.

It is certainly not an easy time to be alive in. Climate change is not a theoretical problem, decades in the future. We need political leaders who can preserve democracy and who want to understand the science, not pervert it. We don’t need leaders who suggest a shot of bleach, as Trump did with Covid in 2020, instead of a real fix for our problems.

If we want the right leaders in place, we’re going to have to be relentless about vetting and supporting the right candidates in the next elections. We have to make sure we vote and that our votes get counted. This work is about preserving our democratic form of government. It’s also about living in a Republic where the government works to protect its people, not just the interests of a few billionaires who woo Supreme Court justices. The challenges we face have never been more critical. Being aware of them, and facing them head on, is the first step

We’re in this together,

Joyce