Three weeks into summer, the climate emergency is demanding attention as heat waves across the West hit all-time extremes. In Northern California, a record of 116 degrees was set last week in Redding. On Friday, forecasters say there is a chance that record will be broken. In Las Vegas, Sunday saw an extreme meteorological irregularity — a new heat record of 120 degrees that broke the old record by 3 degrees. Normally heat records inch up incrementally. This was akin to American Bob Beamon breaking the long jump record by nearly 2 feet at the 1968 Olympics.
As Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Wednesday, after two relatively quiet years, wildfires this summer and fall could be absolutely brutal. As of July 10, more than 207,000 acres have already burned this year in the state, far more than the average of about 38,000 seen in the same span the last five years.
But as the risks of a heating planet become more and more difficult for deniers to dismiss, Americans face a conundrum. Even as efforts to address this crisis ramp up, a compelling argument can be made that both elected leaders and powerful environmental groups aren’t acting in the ways one would expect if they truly believed we are in the middle of an escalating existential crisis. Here are three examples:
— Hydropower is a potentially immense source of energy to replace fuels that release the greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. In 2022, MIT researchers reported that existing hydroelectric power plants in Quebec could readily ramp up production to provide the U.S. Northeast with “as much electricity as about 40 large nuclear power plants.” But construction of a 145-mile electricity transmission line from Quebec to the regional electric grid in Maine was blocked by a coalition of environmental organizations and, incredibly, companies that operate large natural-gas plants. This is beyond perverse.
— Ramping up the availability of electric vehicle charging stations to wean the nation’s drivers off gasoline is allegedly a huge national priority, reflected in the Biden istration’s successful 2021 effort to allocate $7.5 billion to build hundreds of thousands of such stations in the U.S. by 2030. But according to an Autoweek report, as of May, just eight — eight! — had been built because of complex rules governing their construction, especially “Buy American” requirements demanded by regulators oblivious to the fact that U.S. firms aren’t able to supply needed parts and equipment. So much for urgency.
— In California, the state that never tires of patting itself on the back for its green leadership, the Newsom istration has sided with the state’s giant investor-owned utilities on a series of moves that discourage homeowners from installing rooftop solar s — even though the plunging cost of solar power is one of the most encouraging global developments in years.
Yes, the issue is complicated by the need to keep existing utilities afloat and to maintain a robust electric grid. But the approach the state has settled on cannot be squared with Newsom’s moralistic climate rhetoric or his goal to have 100 percent clean electricity in California by 2045.
As more people bake to death around the world, climate change warnings that once seemed apocalyptic now seem utterly plausible. Unfortunately for America and the planet, many of the elected leaders who have made these warnings don’t govern as if they believe their own words.
Good luck, everyone. We’re going to need it.
