Fires , global warming, coronavirus and the economy.

GOD, GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE,  THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

ALWAYS GOOD ADVICE

We as humans often get ourselves into trouble by assuming that we have to react to challenges in a massive response. Sometime that is called for, but most times it is better to take a deep breath and wait until we have the information to know what and how much response will make a difference. 

We see forest fires devastating the western coast today and everyone wants some kind of response to end the crisis now. There is no response that is going to solve this problem in a quick or decisive manner. Of course as is with everything today it becomes a political issue and then there will most likely be no response.

The left of course, immediately blames global warming and that we need to end the use of fossil fuels, they assume that will end the fires now. While the climate has been warming and there have been droughts in the western states, if the United States ended the use of fossil fuels tomorrow 100% it is very unlikely that we would see any change in the climate in our lifetime. 

While an immediate possible method of minimizing the human toll in lives and property would be to clear the brush and dead wood in areas were there are buildings and people living. The response has been that 57% of California's wooded areas are federal land and that the federal government should do it. Residents and buildings are not built on federal land it is either national forest or other protected land. It also has been routinely burned by forest fires for centuries.

While we are continuously looking for other sources of energy, as present, we cannot replace fossil fuels and maintain a modern economy.  We could devastate our economy very quickly, but it would not effect the climate. It would effect our ability to sustain life as we know it in this modern economy.

At present Nuclear power, both fission as we have now and fusion which could be the energy source of the future, is the cleanest source of energy, but now mostly politically unacceptable. 

We could also scrape our entire economy and choose to live in tents and eliminate automobiles. Lets have a referendum to see if that is what we want.

Much of this thinking has also  permeated the whole debate about the coronavirus. Many believe if we just shut down the whole economy, and everyone stays home, the virus will go away. It really is not likely, it would just delay the spread but would not eliminate the virus. If you look at the results from other developed countries the death toll per million is very similar, some have done better than others, and it is still a question what has made that difference. Many things would have to be taken into consideration, age of population, prevalence of other health issues etc., The reality is we have been hit with a new virus which has shortened the life of many who were mostly in serious health situations and this virus has accelerated their demise.

Again, politics took over immediately and it has mostly ended reasonable discussion on how to deal with one of the eternal facts of life since man has walked on this earth. Someone has to do something! Someone must be blamed!.

We were given good information from the beginning, we  must all assume responsibility for ourselves and do the best we can. We need to have the wisdom to know what we have power over and what we do not.