Moved
We are finally moved into our new abode. The week was a haze of disordered living and laborious organization. But it’s done now. I can finally get back to arranging songs.
Meanwhile… What’s on the mind lately?
As I ponder the L.A. fires, the new administration, our retreat from the Paris Accord, the “drill baby drill” philosophy, I can’t help but worry. Why are things stuck in a pattern of denial and entropy about climate change? Most of the populations worldwide know all too well something is wrong with the weather as they face one 1000-year-storm-event after another. The movement to change is difficult to coordinate. Very rich people (who have vested interests in keeping markets the way they are) see the alternatives (like Clean Energy) as expensive with little immediate reward. We lack infrastructure to support much of it anyway.
Some 50 years ago, Gas and Oil companies were aware of the dangers of continued fossil fuel usage. But companies like Exxon/Mobile decided the better way to address the crisis was to confuse and cloudy up the messages. On the one hand, they had some predictive models that showed the climate changes on the horizon (if we continued to use fossil fuels as we had). On the other, they’d then release information to sow doubt. Their models were essentially correct. What did we (as a country or population) do about it? Answer: Almost nothing.
I don’t blame individuals. We do what we can. But it’s like teaspoons in an ocean. It’s our governments (local to national), our so-called leaders, our philosophies on what should remain private (and capitalist) vs. public (and shared) that we need to look at. Capitalists have had a REALLY HARD TIME creating alternatives when there’s no infrastructure to support any of it. It’s a flawed model.
So as I think about the L.A. fires and hear about how local officials knew for decades about the threat of fires and yet did little to prevent it? I think of the people who lost everything. Why? It didn’t need to be the way it was. But everything from city planning to construction to land management failed — that’s not even considering the water system (pressure) that failed in the thick of the crisis.
No one in charge thought to design for the very real threat of a massive fire? Or maybe they did and got nowhere?
These changes are HARD. They are expensive. They require sacrifice. They require letting go of something (an idea, a design, a vision) people expect.
I understand they will rebuild back in the areas of the fires — i.e., Pacific Palisades, Altadena. How will they rebuild, though? The same way? Quickly? Has anyone taken a step back to design and consider a less fire-prone approach? Probably not. They’re in a hurry. They want a return to normalcy as soon as it’s possible.
But what’s normal if you live in constant threat of another fire to take the next home down? That’s no way to live.
Root Cause?
I could look at laziness as being one of the more obvious answers. Reluctance is another one. But that’s waaaaaaaaaay too simple an answer.
It’s a very complex equation of:
- How we design cities
- How we build houses (like materials)
- What we (as a society) expect homes to look like
- Our comfort levels in the neighborhoods
- Our expectations for things like electricity, water and gas to “be there” for us
It’s a long list of expectations. Would people be okay with a cement block of a home made of concrete and steel? Would it survive an earthquake? Or: Would people be okay with homes further apart, more expensive, and made with less flammable materials?
We have come to expect better, faster and cheaper. We were raised on that concept. We hold on hoping that a home in that area (like Altadena) can be built fast and affordable. But what is affordable at this point? I wouldn’t want to pay $500,000 for a home that burns down again in 10 years. Would you?
Alarms
I wrote a song a few years back that bring these ideas to mind. This was more of a response to the fires in Paradise, CA — the inferno from 2018. There again, people had bought fragile homes in a fire-prone environment. I had seen a listing for a “home” in Paradise for $700K. It was a burned-out hull. There was little but the foundation left. $700K seemed ridiculous. (Yeah, what a deal. 😒)
To date, Paradise is apparently only back to one-third of the population. Many left. And it’s not really the “affordable” location it was once touted as now anyway.
I really ask the question: Wouldn’t somebody pull the alarms if there’s danger?? Get us moving physically and mentally?
ANSWER: Guess not…