Time to change climate change

Today's snow and dropping temperatures has birds flocking to the feeders. This afternoon's "breezes" provide excellent excuses reasons to defer snow blowing. That's likely to complicate hauling the trash to the end of the drive for tomorrow's pick-up. Minnesota would be a much nicer place to live if we could eliminate February, or at least its weather.

whitetail walking snowy fields

Photo by J. Harrington

Yesterday afternoon, for the first time in weeks, we saw a few of the local herd of deer. One solitary whitetail was slowly walking across the far field when suddenly, a small group of two or three came bolting across, as if someone or something had spooked them. It is encouraging to see deer and turkeys and owls from time to time. Much as we enjoy the birds at the feeders, there's lots of other critters in the neighborhood that aren't hibernating all Winter.

We spent today's lunch hour at (in?) a webinar getting briefed on Minnesota's efforts to incorporate greenhouse gas emissions into the existing environmental review process. I'd be more enthusiastic if the December, 2020 report from the Climate Change Subcabinet to Governor Walz made mention of that effort. After all, both the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Environmental Quality Board are members of the Subcabinet. We would all be better served if the environmental review process were better integrated into governmental decision making at more than a project review level to gather and provide information. If you haven't noticed, Minnesota is failing abysmally in meeting the emission reduction goals set by the legislature in the Next Generation Energy Act. Remember the old saying about "everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it?" In Minnesota, that's largely true when it comes to climate change also.

Despite my cynical skepticism, I'll probably do some more reading about the proposed changes and submit comments in an ever hopeful effort to improve the process and make it more meaningful. If you're interested, here's a link to the Environmental Quality Board's web page on the process.

Let Them Not Say

Jane Hirshfield - 1953-

Let them not say:   we did not see it.
We saw.

Let them not say:   we did not hear it.
We heard.

Let them not say:     they did not taste it.
We ate, we trembled.

Let them not say:   it was not spoken, not written.
We spoke,
we witnessed with voices and hands.

Let them not say:     they did nothing.
We did not-enough.

Let them say, as they must say something: 

A kerosene beauty.
It burned.

Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,
read by its light, praised,
and it burned.

—2014

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