My spouse admonished me about commenting on the Impeachment Trial in the Senate. We have watched most of the debate and many of the very effective and moving presentations of fact by the House Managers. As I have already ignored Karen’s sound advice, I will conclude by saying, unless the President’s legal team can counter the damning information presented, the fair outcome is really not up for debate. Unfortunately, it is most likely that the Republicans, those who were awake during the proceedings, will have the votes to keep Fearless Leader in place for the time being. I really want to hear John Bolton describe the “drug deal” in his own words, alas, I probably will only get those details in his upcoming book. The country needs new leadership as soon as possible – preferably a person who takes the oath of office to protect and defend our Constitution to heart.
Meanwhile in Davos, the current leader of our country was attending the World Economic Forum. Although the agenda is focused on tackling the climate crisis, he attacked climate activists as “perennial prophets of doom.” Potus rejected calls for urgent action and encouraged the world to instead embrace “optimism.” He spoke after Greta Thunberg and reiterated that he knew nothing about her but she seems “very angry”. Our country has pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord and continues to roll back environmental regulations. All of this makes me very angry, I am with Greta.
The earth is warming, while having a positive approach to that circumstance, “optimism” and hope are not strategies. Meanwhile fires in Australia keep burning, adding over 900 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Scientists fear this large uptick in heat trapping greenhouse gas could further accelerate climate change. CarbonBrief reported the official data from 2019. It was the warmest year ever without an El Nino event. It was the warmest year on record for ocean temperature – up markedly from 2018. We saw record lows in sea ice extent and volume. Global sea levels and atmospheric greenhouse gas reached record highs in 2019, and “the world’s glaciers continue to melt.” My anger is now replaced with concern.
Little wonder, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock ticked closer to midnight. The non profit scientific group cited threats of nuclear war and climate change, compounded by the rise of false information online and the refusal of world leaders to act on these critical issues. The clock is now at 100 seconds from a potential “apocalypse”. The CEO of the organization said “it is the closest to Doomsday we have ever been…We now face a true emergency–an absolutely unacceptable state of world affairs that has eliminated any margin for error or further delay.” The Bulletin was founded by the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project and today has 13 Nobel Laureates on its board.
Anne Frank wrote in her Tales from a Secret Annex, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” I think that is a great call to order from a person who overcame great odds and set a high bar for each of us.
Enjoy each fully informed day. M