What, Me Worry?

KCRW's 'To The Point' had a good show this week on the increasingly dry conditions in many areas of the country, what's causing this, and how disputes over resources may make people rethink how we choose to live. An interesting debate, even if many of the participants were sort of on the same page to begin with.

If all these trends are signs of a larger problem, it's a good thing we have leaders who are taking this crisis seriously, and are actively looking for solutions. Oh, wait. The Republican war on science continues-

The White House significantly edited testimony prepared for a Senate hearing on the impact of climate change on health, deleting key portions citing diseases that could flourish in a warmer climate, documents obtained by The Associated Press showed Wednesday.

Is this just ideological fervor, or are these people cartoonishly evil? Your mileage may vary.

There are many, many reasons why we are a long time from seriously dealing with climate change (people's general unwillingness to sacrifice anything, for starters, and business interests pushing back). But the fact that one side of the political divide in this country refuses to acknowlege basic reality is no small obstacle.

What happened to the grownups being in charge? Are there any left?

[PS- I've been reading lots of debate (okay, reactionary sarcasm) on the issue of whether climate change is to blame for the SoCal wildfires. Science Daily makes a good case for that position. Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson, however, says sometimes a fire is just a fire. Obviously, the latter is true, though the former doesn't help.]