It was only a shower, but it made a fitting background for a couple of points about winter in these latitudes. The main point is that we ought to be glad we still have thermal sources such as coal and natural gas to keep us warm and our houses and work places well lighted. Federal and state policies are aimed at making those sources of life-preserving warmth and light more expensive in order to discourage their use, all in the interest of slowing climate change. Our policy makers continue to ignore actual data, which show that in the Pacific Northwest, average temperatures have been trending mildly downward for 10 or 15 years. Let’s hope we elect more sensible legislators and governors in the coming years so we can correct the current course before people come to serious grief. (hh)
Update on “warming’
It was only a shower, but it made a fitting background for a couple of points about winter in these latitudes. The main point is that we ought to be glad we still have thermal sources such as coal and natural gas to keep us warm and our houses and work places well lighted. Federal and state policies are aimed at making those sources of life-preserving warmth and light more expensive in order to discourage their use, all in the interest of slowing climate change. Our policy makers continue to ignore actual data, which show that in the Pacific Northwest, average temperatures have been trending mildly downward for 10 or 15 years. Let’s hope we elect more sensible legislators and governors in the coming years so we can correct the current course before people come to serious grief. (hh)
Tags: climate change, fossil fuels, Oregon winter