Burning Man 5 - original mixed media
The annual festival known a Burning Man has returned again. I have never been to the
the festival, and I will not be going this year, although I'm sure the various creations on view
will be interesting to see. I am mentioning it, because the name Burning Man always reminds
me of the most important problem our world faces today, and that problem is global warming.
But how many reminders do we need? Every day the news journals bring us fresh reports of
extreme weather events, related to the changing climate of the Earth. Excessive rains in one
part of the country bring disastrous flooding, while prolonged drought in other parts of the
country create the conditions for raging wild fires, destroying hundreds of homes and killing
people. I heard a report recently, that said there are two hundred fires burning in the north
western section of our country; smoke from those fires and the fires in Canada are polluting
the air we breath and creating health hazards.
The wildfires that ravaged Europe this summer forced over two hundred and sixty thousand
people to evacuate their homes in France and Spain, along with additional thousands of
people in Greece. And when these people were allowed to return home, many found only
ashes where their houses once stood, just as has happened in so many communities in this
country.
This past month of July was the hottest on record in our contiguous forty eight states, and
the heat is continuing to build, as we continue to burn fossil fuels. Mountain glaciers are
melting at an alarming pace, and now we see the results in Nepal where whole villages and
thousands of people have been swept away by a melting glacial flood. In our own Glacial
National Park, the ice is melting so rapidly that soon there will be no glaciers in the park which
was named for them. The great ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic are melting faster than
they are are able to rebuild, causing the ocean levels to rise, and threatening to submerge low
lying countries and cities around the globe.
So who is responsible for this growing, global disaster? To some extent, we are all partly
responsible for allowing ourselves to become dependent on fossil fuels to create electricity
and for transportation. But the problem becomes more exacerbated now that an egomaniac
like Donald Trump in in control. Trump does not accept the truth of science and the worming
climate, just as he does not accept the truth of fair elections. His only concern is maximizing
his profits from burning fossil fuels. He is very actively destroying the efforts made by the
previous administration, to make the country more reliant on renewable energy. If ever there
was a man who deserved to burn in hell, it is Donald J. Trump.
Eugene P. McNerney
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