How badly have we failed?

This weekend we're getting some much needed rain in the classic form of "it never rains but it pours!" Between downpours, what seems like half the chickadees in the state pour into the bird feeder, with goldfinches, nuthatches and an occasional cardinal or downy woodpecker mixed in.

Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

Another instance of "never rains but" occurs on Monday, August 9, when the Intergovernmental Panel on  Climate Change [IPCC] will release "The Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report." From the preliminary information available, the contribution is expected to find that there's no longer any hope of meeting the 1.5℃ target for limiting global temperature increase. Although that should come as no surprise, it should trigger dismay and disappointment and disgust and distrust for reasons such as, but not limited to, these:

• The online fly-fishing magazine, HATCH, has recently posted this article: Despite promises, Biden admin pushing pro-fossil fuel agenda.


• Neither current  Democratic administration, in Washington, D.C. nor Minnesota, has stopped the construction of Enbridge's Line 3, despite the Minnesota Department of Commerce finding that the proposed new pipeline is not needed.


• Minnesota's current Democratic administration acknowledges the state "fell short of its 2015 goal of 15% and is not on track to meet the 2025 goal." (The goals referenced were reductions in greenhouse gases mandated in 2007 legislation.)

The day after tomorrow (remember that movie with the ironic plot of a new ice age?) we'll learn more about the implications of our long-standing failures to seriously respond to what are truly existential challenges for the human race. It's highly probable that the Earth will continue to exist, but it may  well do so without a number of its keystone species, including humans, unless our "leaders" manage to

See It Through

Edgar Guest - 1881-1959

When you're up against a trouble, 
    Meet it squarely, face to face; 
Lift your chin and set your shoulders, 
    Plant your feet and take a brace. 
When it's vain to try to dodge it, 
    Do the best that you can do; 
You may fail, but you may conquer, 
    See it through! 

Black may be the clouds about you 
    And your future may seem grim, 
But don't let your nerve desert you; 
    Keep yourself in fighting trim. 
If the worst is bound to happen, 
    Spite of all that you can do, 
Running from it will not save you, 
    See it through! 

Even hope may seem but futile, 
    When with troubles you're beset, 
But remember you are facing 
    Just what other men have met. 
You may fail, but fall still fighting; 
    Don't give up, whate'er you do; 
Eyes front, head high to the finish. 
    See it through!

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