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Fires
The first great urban climate apocalypse is happening now
This morning they held a public funeral service in DC for Jimmy Carter, our most human president. He was the first president I voted for as a young man and I was a fan, especially after the chaos of Nixon and Vietnam. But he had the misfortune to get elected during the worst energy crisis ever.
It’s hard to comprehend that time if you didn’t live through it. 15% mortgages, high inflation, and high gas prices if you could even get it. And all of us driving around in gas guzzling boats, spoiled by gas that was practically free by today’s standards.
Which is why Carter became our first leader to openly acknowledge that geo-political and climate issues around fossil fuels were going to be a serious problem. He put solar panels on the White House, which he was ridiculed for by the Republican establishment. His successor Ronald Reagan had them removed.
Jimmy Carter was also our last president to focus on climate issues. Which, given the constant terrible news stemming from weather disasters, is almost incomprehensible.
Los Angeles, the City of Angels, is burning. Seasonal Santa Ana winds and drought have combined to turn the fires into monstrous blowtorches swallowing houses and commercial buildings in minutes. Those winds, normally peaking…