It’s hot, and maybe Pombo’s OK
It’s not the heat. It’s the stupidity.
My brother coined that phrase while sweating through a summer in
Chicago. Accustomed to our perfect weather, Chicago’s 11 months of
abysmal weather, punctuated by two weeks each spring and fall of
tolerable clime, wore on him. But what really got to him was the
constant small talk:
”
hot enough for ya?
”
or
”
gonna be a scorcher today!
”
It’s hot, and maybe Pombo’s OK
It’s not the heat. It’s the stupidity.
My brother coined that phrase while sweating through a summer in Chicago. Accustomed to our perfect weather, Chicago’s 11 months of abysmal weather, punctuated by two weeks each spring and fall of tolerable clime, wore on him. But what really got to him was the constant small talk: “hot enough for ya?” or “gonna be a scorcher today!”
His observation was that the more we talk about miserable weather, the more aware of it we are. We all had our own brush with that phenomenon just a few days ago. I talked about the weather with shop clerks, or any other captive audience that happened by.
Wednesday’s return to more temperate conditions was most welcome, and our heat wave was a reminder of how lucky we are to live in this area.
Speaking of the heat, a report released this week said national parks will fall victim to global warming in some alarming ways.
First, as I wrote a week ago, this is about warmer conditions, not whether they are the result of natural cycles or the profligate waste of humankind. And before you jump to the conclusion that the report is the brainchild of a bunch of tofu-eating, tie-dye-wearing, dreadlocked weirdoes, know that it was drafted by an environmental group (the Natural Resources Defense Council) in collaboration with the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. The latter group is a collaboration of local governments, business interests, a farmers’ union and Denver Water, the Colorado region’s largest water provider.
In an article in Wednesday’s San Francisco Chronicle, the report’s principal author described disappearing beaches, record crowds visiting Yosemite to escape heat in lower areas, Glacier National Park without glaciers and snow-free peaks in Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Teton, Mount Rainier and Rocky Mountain national parks. That would quickly dry out many alpine lakes.
Joshua trees could disappear from Joshua Tree National Park.
The report can be found at www.nrdc.org.
Attaboy Pombo?
And now, four words I never thought I would combine in a sentence: Nice work Mr. Pombo.
Rep. Richard Pombo, the corpulent soprano from Tracy who purports to represent a sweeping Congressional district that includes Morgan Hill and San Martin, allowed a bill creating 273,000 acres of designated wilderness in Northern California from Napa County to the Oregon border. The reason that’s such a shocker is because Pombo makes no secret of his loathing for all things environmental. He does not mind stooping to inventing the facts that suit his case in his long-running campaign to scuttle the Endangered Species Act.
Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, has the power to keep such bills from a House vote indefinitely. And he did that when the bill was first introduced in 2002.
But the bill’s top sponsor, Rep. Mike Thompson of St. Helena, worked out a compromise, agreeing to drop 30,000 acres from protection and to set aside areas for motorized vehicle and mountain bike use. Wilderness areas permit no means of mechanized transport.
By working to serve a better mix of stakeholders, Thompson won Pombo’s approval, and the bill won passage on the House floor.
It’s the second time recently that compromise between environmental hard-liners and other users, like the off-highway vehicle community, has resulted in protection of significant lands. The last victory came earlier this year, when a vast tract of the Sierra adjacent to Yosemite won wilderness status, in exchange for creation of off-highway recreation near Sonora Pass.
Dare I say it? Pombo is acting, well, statesmanlike.
Oh yeah. He’s seeking re-election in November.
