Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
As California’s record drought continues, Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered residents and non-agricultural businesses to cut water use by 25 percent in the first mandatory statewide reduction in the state’s history.
California is a leader in renewable energy, which makes its commitment to fracked oil all the more perplexing.
In addition to being the hottest year on record in California, 2014 was also the third year of extreme drought in the state, which scientists tell us is a telltale sign that global warming is already impacting our lives right here and right now.
TV news, as we pointed out recently in a FAIR study…, is intensely interested in extreme weather. But coverage that links weather events to climate is extremely rare.
Rainstorms finally arrived in California…but the big reservoirs are still pitifully low, and snow pack is less than a quarter of normal. Hundreds of thousands of acres will not be planted, and food bills will likely go up in North America, and possibly around the world.
California Gov. Jerry Brown is having a hard time maintaining his green image.
No water. That pretty much sums up living with climate change around here, in Los Angeles.
There are likely a lot of East Coasters wishing they lived in sunny, dry (and comparatively warm) California right now. But Californians know their weather is anything but a blessing these days with a drought that’s being called “unprecedented.”
Ranchers, who require green pasture to feed their livestock, have been among the hardest hit by the lack of rain this winter.
The situation LA faces in relation to water is both stark and as clear an example of un-joined up thinking as you could hope to see.
In addition to concerns about having an adequate water supply for food production, Californians are worried about Gov. Brown’s plan to increase fracking as oil companies are gearing up to frack large reservoirs of unconventional shale oil in the Monterey Shale.
