Tropical Storm Sara

 Tropical Storm Sara didn't get much attention in the United States. It was a weather story, with headlines like "Storm Weakens," and illustrations like satellite photos of its extent. The 110,000 Hondurans cut off from roads by flooding weren't mentioned or pictured. I suppose if any homeless Hondurans feel compelled to flee north we will hear all about them, transformed on FOX News from climate refugees into an invading army.

And make no mistake. This isn't a weather story, it is a climate story. In September, we heard all about the horror of Hurricane Helene. In part that was because it was a stronger storm. In larger part that was because it hurt white Americans. Scientists who study such things are clear that climate change made Helene more damaging than it would have been without a 2°+ increase(!) in ocean temperature. Our storms have become both stronger and more frequent.

But there has been a profound disconnect between our concern for the victims of these storms (at least the victims in the US) and our concern about the climate crisis. President-elect Trump says the climate crisis is a "scam" and is promising more drilling for fossil fuels. His appointee for Energy Secretary calls the climate crisis a "hoax" and says that fossil fuels will restore American dominance. He also promises to uplift women in the former colonial world by "giving" them natural gas so they won't have to walk all day in search of firewood.

I won't say too much about the incoming secretary of the interior, because as governor of the North Dakota petrostate he gave lip service to the climate crisis as an actual phenomenon, promising to make the state carbon neutral. We'll see. He has actual experience as a public servant so he may not fall into the category of woefully under qualified clowns whose recommendations for high office are their personal loyalty to DJT and their incompetence. Perhaps he belongs in the other category of Trump appointees: ambitious, serious, and doomed to be fired soon.

The UN's climate summit is meeting in Baku right now. Azerbaijan is another petrostate. It has been polluting the Caspian Sea since its land-based oilfields dried up and the industry shifted to offshore wells, which makes it a strange choice. On the other hand, the UN has been holding these meetings for thirty years without making any impact on the problem, so...

I have been trying since the election to focus on positive signs of actual resistance (as opposed to Democratic Party pretense.) I have been trying to discourage the divisive finger-pointing that can make it impossible for us to raise any united front against fascism and racial capitalism. But this morning all I can see is a system that is determined to murder us all, led by enthusiastic profiteers who somehow imagine that they will be immune to the destruction.

I am hopeful that putting this dread into words will enable me to move on and return to planning our answer.