@Song of the lark
channels was interviewing someone with severe asthma who has had to spend a lot of time indoors because of the smoke. And the talking head on the news was giving tips for what to do if the smoke starts to bother you.

I honestly thought I it was all overkill until I saw another news report saying the same thing. At this rate there won't be anything for Kim to aim his rockets at. Because it seems if it ain't rain, it's drought. Or fire. Or earthquake. Or tornado. Or...

Like Roseann Roseannadanna used to say, "It's always something."

Trial by fire, trial by water. What's next...trial by earth- the Yellowstone caldera or San Andreas fault Or trial by air. Super tornados across the mid west.

@thanatokephaloides

From myself to wealthy oil execs and bankers. They are externalizing their costs onto me which means they are taking money from my pockets to buy their next yacht. The notion that Hillary, wedded at the hip to these same people, would've even tried to do anything significant to combat the problem is ludicrous. The fact that they refuse to even cover the health costs of their pillaging is just adding insult to injury.

Imagine what the cost of extreme weather events worldwide has been over the last ten years alone. We are talking trillions of dollars all so Exxon, etc. can make profits for their shareholders and senior executives.

So all you folks convinced that doing something to stop climate change will be bad for our economy are dead wrong.

Umm, are you finding any argument against this on c99?

The reality is that it is costing us more and more each year in money and human lives by doing nothing than it would ever cost to take action to ameliorate climate disasters that at this point are unavoidable.

But hey, lets talk about Russiagate some more, or how horrible Bernie Sanders/Wikileaks/{Insert Your Own Option Here} is. God forbid we take climate disasters seriously.

No offense intended, but methinks you're "preaching to the choir" here. We know and agree with you already!

Of course, this is c99: "of, by, and for the 99%". You know, the folks who have to suffer and pay for the anchor-fucked climate. And, unlike all too many of the 99%, we know it!

@FuturePassed
Somehow this comment did not connect with the comment to which it referred.

Everybody needs a good rant now and then. And where better to have it than among friends.

@Centaurea Willamette valley of Oregon. This past several days have been hellish here. Very limited visibility, the worst smoke that I've ever seen. No air conditioning and all the doors and windows shut for days. And I was here for many years of field burning.

What can one person do?

I don't know. I'm too old at this point to be a fire-jumper.
It does look like more than a few trees will need to be replanted though. That is also a huge amount of stored carbon that is going up. So that's one thing: plant.

Here, I think the focus should also be on changing the practices on replanting. Often the ptb plant mono-crops (usually doug fir here) and then spray with broad leaf herbicide to "protect" the new plants from competition. Old school Dow-chemical inductees write policy at the state level.
I guess what I'm struggling to say, is that for me doing something, even if it is not perfect is OK. If it is informed and trending in the best direction of best practices we know, do it.
Otherwise I will just despair. So, when it is safe to go outside, how about we plant some trees?

The Gorge is where the Columbia River (the state border between Oregon and Washington) traverses the Cascade Mountains. It's one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

The western states have been blanketed in smoke from numerous fires for weeks. Dry, hot weather and no rain in sight. We're all under a strict burn ban and asked to use our common sense and be careful, for the sake of everyone here. Saturday afternoon, a couple of teenagers went into the forested mountains near Cascade Locks, about 40 miles east of Portland, Oregon, and set off firecrackers.

So far, 5,500 square miles of natural forest are burning, and several rural communities in OR have been evacuated. The people on the WA side of the river are hosing down their roofs and lawns, and watching burnt leaves and pine cones rain down on them. Ash from the fire is falling in Portland.

Today the wind shifted, now coming hard from the east, pushing the fire to the west. Zero containment. Most of the governmental efforts are going to preserving life and property, not to putting out the fire.

As a Katrina survivor, it's been hard for me this past week watching the hurricane in Houston. As a recent resident of the Gorge (left a few months ago), it's very difficult seeing what's going on there now.

I'm sad. I'm having the PTSD triggered. But most of all I feel very angry. I go back and forth between anger and despair. The US prides itself on being the wealthiest and most technologically advanced nation in the history of the world. The US has the money, power, and capability to go around the world, invading other sovereign lands, blasting the hell out of them, and killing their people.

We're just so "exceptional". But we can't even take minimally decent care of our own people, our own lands, and our own infrastructure. We mind everyone else's business in the world, but we seem incapable of minding our own.

Our ability to handle natural disasters (before, during and after) is half-assed, at best. The lack of a basic understanding of what is involved in a natural disaster is just stunning. Here in the Pacific NW, local organizations and agencies are trying to put together disaster preparation programs. I give them credit for good intentions, but I shake my head at the cluelessness. I'm reminded of "duck and cover" during the Cuban missile crisis. Even as a little kid, I questioned what good that would do.

Over a million acres in the US are on fire, and we are unable to put the fires out, but instead watch them grow and spread, while We the People choke on smoke and wonder what's next. I can't help but think there is a significant metaphor in this, reflecting the state of the US at present.

To note, I'm using the word "we" in the collective sense here, meaning the United States and its collective consciousness. I know that most folks here at C99 are of a more evolved mindset, but I have to figure that if my tax dollars and my lifestyle (simple and non-comformist though it may be) are supporting this state of affairs, at some level I am assenting to it.

What can one person do? I'm thinking that maybe the first step is to withdraw my implicit assent, inside my own mind and heart. I think many of us are at that stage now. But it can be disorienting, and sometimes it takes a brutal push and horrendous things happening to get us there.

I personally feel like I've reached some sort of "turning point" this week, a sort of Rubicon moment. More burning, burning our bridges behind us, no turning back. I think this is our (only) point of power.

@Centaurea
I too wonder if there are enough firefighters who fight against the fires. It's usually a few hundred or more and I wonder if more people went to fight them , would that help?
The Columbia river gorge fire was started by someone using fireworks. Over 150 hikers had to be rescued. They know who the person is who started this fire.
California is using prisoners to fight the fires. How much training do they get for this? They are paid $1/per hour and $2/ a day when they are in camps.

The Gorge is where the Columbia River (the state border between Oregon and Washington) traverses the Cascade Mountains. It's one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

The western states have been blanketed in smoke from numerous fires for weeks. Dry, hot weather and no rain in sight. We're all under a strict burn ban and asked to use our common sense and be careful, for the sake of everyone here. Saturday afternoon, a couple of teenagers went into the forested mountains near Cascade Locks, about 40 miles east of Portland, Oregon, and set off firecrackers.

So far, 5,500 square miles of natural forest are burning, and several rural communities in OR have been evacuated. The people on the WA side of the river are hosing down their roofs and lawns, and watching burnt leaves and pine cones rain down on them. Ash from the fire is falling in Portland.

Today the wind shifted, now coming hard from the east, pushing the fire to the west. Zero containment. Most of the governmental efforts are going to preserving life and property, not to putting out the fire.

As a Katrina survivor, it's been hard for me this past week watching the hurricane in Houston. As a recent resident of the Gorge (left a few months ago), it's very difficult seeing what's going on there now.

I'm sad. I'm having the PTSD triggered. But most of all I feel very angry. I go back and forth between anger and despair. The US prides itself on being the wealthiest and most technologically advanced nation in the history of the world. The US has the money, power, and capability to go around the world, invading other sovereign lands, blasting the hell out of them, and killing their people.

We're just so "exceptional". But we can't even take minimally decent care of our own people, our own lands, and our own infrastructure. We mind everyone else's business in the world, but we seem incapable of minding our own.

Our ability to handle natural disasters (before, during and after) is half-assed, at best. The lack of a basic understanding of what is involved in a natural disaster is just stunning. Here in the Pacific NW, local organizations and agencies are trying to put together disaster preparation programs. I give them credit for good intentions, but I shake my head at the cluelessness. I'm reminded of "duck and cover" during the Cuban missile crisis. Even as a little kid, I questioned what good that would do.

Over a million acres in the US are on fire, and we are unable to put the fires out, but instead watch them grow and spread, while We the People choke on smoke and wonder what's next. I can't help but think there is a significant metaphor in this, reflecting the state of the US at present.

To note, I'm using the word "we" in the collective sense here, meaning the United States and its collective consciousness. I know that most folks here at C99 are of a more evolved mindset, but I have to figure that if my tax dollars and my lifestyle (simple and non-comformist though it may be) are supporting this state of affairs, at some level I am assenting to it.

What can one person do? I'm thinking that maybe the first step is to withdraw my implicit assent, inside my own mind and heart. I think many of us are at that stage now. But it can be disorienting, and sometimes it takes a brutal push and horrendous things happening to get us there.

I personally feel like I've reached some sort of "turning point" this week, a sort of Rubicon moment. More burning, burning our bridges behind us, no turning back. I think this is our (only) point of power.