People on front lines of climate change act
Despite taxpayer benefits, Blais says he is not for merger
By Ken Tingley
Seventy-one percent of Americans believe climate change is happening, but only one in three say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about its impact.
I suspect none of them live in New Orleans. For most of the past two weeks, I lived through the broiling heat and humidity in Louisiana where catastrophe lies just off the coast.
Each morning, I would leave the condo we were renting and walk to the store to pick up a copy of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Inevitably, the stories about “hurricane season” appeared. It would not surprise me if they have a hurricane beat reporter.
The good news is there has not been any hurricanes this season. The bad news is that the experts still believe there could be 4 to 8 major storms. As we prepared to leave after getting my son settled in a condo downtown, I lamented we had failed to put together a “hurricane emergency kit.”
We now have a personal stake in climate change.
The entire city of New Orleans is below sea level and lies within the flood plain of the Mississippi River. Each condo and apartment we looked at with our son carried a “severe” rating for possible flood.
While sitting at the airport and reading the Times-Picayune, I found a front page story about the crisis for homeowners insurance.
The newspaper reported that thousands of homeowners and businesses have lost their property insurance coverage after major hurricanes. Eight private insurance companies had failed in the past year and a dozen more had pulled out of the New Orleans market.
Insurance companies crunch numbers so they can make money. Ask them if they believe in climate change?
With many of the private insurance companies folding and others leaving the state, thousands turned to the state for coverage.
There are currently 75,000 homes and businesses with state coverage. That is double the number when Hurricane Laura struck in August 2020. Most of the policies are in the New Orleans metro area.
Many homeowners are still paying off debt from as far back as Hurricane Katrina. After Katrina, the state insurance company went broke.
In August of 2020, Governor John Bel Edwards created the Climate Initiatives Task Force to develop a climate action plan to set Louisiana on a path to address climate change.
The Task Force was made up of government, private sector, academic, environmental and community justice voices and was supported by six emissions-based sector committees and four cross-sector advisory groups.
In February 2022, Louisiana’s first Climate Action Plan was released after a 15-month process that included 49 public meetings, 171 action proposals submitted by members and the public, and four month-long public comment periods. It resulted in proposals and action plans to get to net zero emissions for greenhouse gases by 2050. Because of the repeated hurricanes, Louisiana residents know first hand what the future looks like and the danger if they did nothing.
This past week, all 50 Democrats in the U.S. Senate voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act.
All 50 Republicans voted against it. So did our local congresswoman, Rep. Elise Stefanik.
The Democrats believe the $369 billion in spending will reduce the deficit and be major step forward in addressing climate change. Republicans believe it will lead to more inflation and, well, I guess they just don’t care about the quality of life of the next generation.
It makes you wonder when Republicans became “anti-planet.”
Provisions within the bill will allow the United States to reduce carbon gases by 30 to 40 percent over 2005 levels and closer to the 50 percent reduction needed by 2050. Sadly, it isn’t as comprehensive as the Louisiana plan. Not bad for a red state.
Perhaps after Congress finishes campaigning in their home states in August, they can reconvene in New Orleans and with any luck, they might get the chance to experience one of the superstorms first hand.
Maybe then they will take climate change more seriously.
The people in Louisiana did.
Blais opposes merger
There was a time when Lake George’s long-time mayor Robert Blais was open to a merger between the town and village of Lake George.
Blais, who has been the mayor in Lake George for more than a half-century, seems to have changed his mind. Despite expert projections that said taxpayers in both the village and town would benefit from a merger with smaller tax bills, Blais says he doesn’t believe the experts.
He hasn’t offered any evidence so far to support that position, but this is not the type of decision that should be based on a gut instinct.
New York has too many layers of government and the state of New York is offering significant incentives for communities to merge.
Blais is well-respected in his community and has a half-century of leadership, but he needs to do what is in the best interest of the village.
Profile in courage
It’s been nearly a decade since Roy McDonald did the right thing only to be punished by Republican voters.
You should remember McDonald. He was the supervisor in Wilton who welcomed retail business of all kinds and used that sales tax revenue to eliminate any need for a town tax.
McDonald eventually was elected to the New York State Assembly and then the New York State Senate as a conservative Republican.
It was there in the Senate that McDonald had his “Profile in Courage” moment when he provided a key vote to make same-sex marriage state law. That hardly seems controversial anymore. The latest Gallup Poll in 2022 found that 71 percent of Americans approve of legal same-sex marriage.
But 10 years ago, it was controversial. Republicans showed their disapproval by voting against McDonald in a Republican primary and McDonald walked away from politics. It left McDonald bitter after a lifetime of service to his community.
I chronicle the story in a new anthology that will be published in December by Something or Other Publishing as part of a group of award-winning stories.
McDonald’s “Profile in Courage” moment is still a good story and one to be remembered.
I urge you to preorder the anthology today.
It seems like the GOP running on defund the FBI might be a bridge too far in service to Dear Leader. I’m wrong all the time, tho.
One can only pray that more people will wake up to climate change. Sadly.