Opinion: When the power goes out, the chaos of climate change gets real (via latimesopinion)
It felt like the early stage of a death foretold. The power outage at our house in Mill Valley, just north of San Francisco, lasted five days, and shook us from any lingering hope that we would be exempt from climate change’s burgeoning depredations.
We built the house just three years ago, intending it to be a model of sound environmental design. I worried that because our property is only 26 feet above sea level, San Francisco Bay water would inundate the roads that lead to it in the not-too-distant future, but I overlooked the more immediate threat of wildfire. Our solar panels, hooked to PG&E’s system, provided no electricity, and our sleek electric stove might as well have been a countertop.
That spirit extended throughout the community. Drivers displayed uncharacteristic courtesy at the many intersections where traffic lights stopped working. Mill Valley Market, the locally owned grocery store, stayed open thanks to its newly installed generator and offset the closing of the town’s java joints by offering free morning coffee to all comers.
The simple answer to the last two questions is that responsible behavior can be expensive. To bury PG&E’s electricity lines, for example, would cost around $3 million a mile. And blame for not taking that step — if, indeed, blame is warranted — must extend beyond PG&E to regulators and consumers whose chief focus in past decades was keeping utility rates down.The deeper, distressing truth is that climate change is almost certainly bigger than our capacity for remediation.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rising sea levels will erase more cities by 2050: reportWATCH: Dr. Ben Strauss of Climate Central discusses the new study on the impacts of climate change.
Read more »
Jane Fonda, Rosanna Arquette and Catherine Keener Arrested Amid Weekly Climate ProtestsJane Fonda’s Fire Drill Fridays advocating for U.S. officials to seriously consider the negative effects of climate change led to the actor getting arrested Friday inside the Hart Senate offi…
Read more »
Greta Thunberg Wouldn’t Meet With Trump If AskedGreta Thunberg wouldn't meet with Trump if asked. 'I just think it would be a waste of time, really,' she says.
Read more »
Spain to host U.N. climate talks in December after Chile cancelsSpain will host U.N. climate change talks in December after Chile withdrew, the ...
Read more »
Spain offers to host COP25 climate change summit after Chile's withdrawalSpain has offered to host the United Nations' COP25 climate change summit i...
Read more »