Posted on Sep 12, 2020
Opinion: The California Dream, A Catastrophic Wake Up Call
155
2
1
2
2
0
The dreamscape of California has looked like a hellscape this week. California, America's Golden state — "Warm, palmy air — air you can kiss..." wrote Jack Kerouac — has had choking air, scalding heat, and surreal orange skies.
California has been the dreamland of so many who hope to strike it rich, or start over, a state-of-mind, as well as a state: a place for fresh-starts, freeways, and free love.
This season has brought a cascade of calamities to California and the West, atop the pandemic. And Californians may wonder if these are catastrophes to be endured just once a century, or a generation, or are they our new way of life?
Steve Pennebaker, a software engineer and 4th generation Californian, told us this week that when drought, fires, blackouts, and mudslides struck his state time after time these past few years, friends would say, "Well, this is once in a lifetime."
"I've been hearing 'once-in-a-lifetime' every few months for years now," he told us.
California has been the dreamland of so many who hope to strike it rich, or start over, a state-of-mind, as well as a state: a place for fresh-starts, freeways, and free love.
This season has brought a cascade of calamities to California and the West, atop the pandemic. And Californians may wonder if these are catastrophes to be endured just once a century, or a generation, or are they our new way of life?
Steve Pennebaker, a software engineer and 4th generation Californian, told us this week that when drought, fires, blackouts, and mudslides struck his state time after time these past few years, friends would say, "Well, this is once in a lifetime."
"I've been hearing 'once-in-a-lifetime' every few months for years now," he told us.
Opinion: The California Dream, A Catastrophic Wake Up Call
Posted from npr.org
State of California
Firefighting
Climate Change
Natural Disaster
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 1
0
0
0
California is not the place that many people think it is. Underneath everything it's actually a conservative state as far as values but votes liberally. We have those in power that are trying to link brush fires with climate change when in reality it's the very state that keeps us from thinning our forest depriving fires of fuel. It's kind of a catch-22. I grew up at a time when we had Stage 1 and Stage 2 smog alerts. Now the South Coast Air Quality Management District strictly controls the number of clearance burns that are allowed. Yet they will blame those of us that have worked in the fire service for not doing our jobs. Instead of being proactive our state has to be reactive.
Where I live we have Auto Aid. That means that when the alarm bell goes off all the different fire agencies on the mountain respond and then they worry about whose area of responsibility it is later. The first priority is to knock it down! The El Dorado fire is one such fire where that just wasn't possible. And then the Santa Ana winds kicked up which are nothing new. It will likely get worse from here since the Santa Ana winds season is technically October and November. But then the weather turns very cold and very quick here in the mountains. Believe it or not one of our worst fires burned on Christmas Day through the snow from one side of the mountain to the other. That was 20 some years ago.
The point being that this is not a new phenomenon. Those of us to choose to live in what is called the urban interface know that we risk losing all to live in God's country where the skies are blue and the air is clean and the water is cool. We will get through this. We will rebuild and then the Great American Spirit we will go on.
Where I live we have Auto Aid. That means that when the alarm bell goes off all the different fire agencies on the mountain respond and then they worry about whose area of responsibility it is later. The first priority is to knock it down! The El Dorado fire is one such fire where that just wasn't possible. And then the Santa Ana winds kicked up which are nothing new. It will likely get worse from here since the Santa Ana winds season is technically October and November. But then the weather turns very cold and very quick here in the mountains. Believe it or not one of our worst fires burned on Christmas Day through the snow from one side of the mountain to the other. That was 20 some years ago.
The point being that this is not a new phenomenon. Those of us to choose to live in what is called the urban interface know that we risk losing all to live in God's country where the skies are blue and the air is clean and the water is cool. We will get through this. We will rebuild and then the Great American Spirit we will go on.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google