C. John McEnelly

In 2016, Donald Trump called climate change the “greatest hoax ever foisted on the American people!” And the crowd went wild. Since that statement, our weather patterns have deteriorated at an accelerating rate.

Boomers, remember the 50s to 70s? Storms were local happenings; damage was insignificant because most violent weather events (hail, wind, tornadoes) were rare, local and occurred over farmland.

Tornado deaths were rare, with less than 10 a year nationwide the norm. Today’s evening news national weather maps show storm fronts from Texas, up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, or extending to the east coast to the Atlantic Seacoast and Appalachians. Such fronts are over 1,000 miles long, 200+ miles wide, wreaking havoc everywhere. On May 19, 28 people died from a single tornado in just one city. Sadly, such storms and deaths are not isolated incidents. They are reported several times a week.

Last year, we experienced the largest number of hurricanes in history. This year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts 25, a new record. This is one every week during the June–November hurricane season. Hurricanes take about ten days to come and go, so ….

Okay, Boomers, when was the last time you heard of California having “rolling brown-outs?” The smog I witnessed during my Marine Corps days of 1967 to 1970 has disappeared. Why? Renewable energy. Keep in mind, the “land of fruits and nuts” has the fifth largest Gross Domestic Product in the world. GDP requires energy; lots. Solar power is transforming the power grid. 2000 square-foot houses start at $1 million. At $17,500, solar power and power walls almost eliminate homeowners purchasing electricity. Excess production is sold back to the grid. Such innovation allows whole municipalities local control over power production, which reduces fire danger and electrical loss over distance. Over 30% of the Missouri River dam power generated is dissipated by the time it reaches Minneapolis and Chicago from the friction of electrons in the wire. Except for small emergency generators, almost all electricity in the Dakotas is hydroelectric. Time and innovation will allow America to better harvest solar energy. Let’s not snicker because Californians are forced to save money.

Californians purchase 20 percent of all EVs. As technology improves, this will grow, not just because of laws, but because EVs will be less expensive and cost less to run. This is true for Americans. Currently, my fuel cost for driving around town is +/- $6.oo per month with our Tesla.

Donald Trump’s motto: “Never admit you’re wrong. Never apologize!” His response to these issues: first, eliminate NOAA by firing half its workforce, then propose purging all historical research data. Second, work to eliminate FEMA by firing almost 1000 employees and cutting its budget. All this while rising numbers of natural disasters loom in our future.

This week, for the very first time, America’s international bond rating dropped from “AAA” because of our rising debt. Interest rates WILL RISE if this stays! Donald Trump’s approach to cutting costs will not succeed. On January 20, our “bloated” federal bureaucracy was 0.006 of our population of 335 million. Really now, is that bloated?

According to numbers I have seen, the savings are $5 billion. That’s 0.25% of Donald Trump’s projected cut. Hmm, small wonder he declared bankruptcy six times for “business reasons.”