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Friday, September 1, 2017

Harvey's Calling Card

Hurricane Harvey has deposited an epic amount of rainfall onto the city where oil has been king.  Is this a message from the gods that those who ignore climate change are doomed to perish at the hands of what comes down from above?  Or, more likely, the poor pay the price of the rich reaping their gains and ignoring what the science says.  It happened with big tobacco, but the stakes were lower.  Exxon is in the business of damaging the planet that we need to sustain us.
 There is a flood myth in every ancient religion going back to the cuneiform, the first written language, and the Sumerians.  There is something primal and fearful about water water everywhere.  When I saw photo after photo of what 50+ inches of rain in one place at one time looks like, I have no trouble imagining why that might be.  The consequences for ancient man would be drowning or starving.  Today it is a homeless city, but what if we can't heed these warnings and start making dramatic changes in the way we use and make energy?  Time will tell.  But this is no canary in a coal mine.  These are coal miners in the coal mine saying it is time to change.

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