I’VE BEEN ENJOYING A NEW SERIES ON HBO, “Silicon Valley.” It is produced by Mike Judge, the man who made the 1999 cult hit “Office Space.” A running gag on the show is the conceit among the titans of tech that their inventions are “making the world a better place.” This idea ought to resonate […]
Jerome Page: Can’t handle this cold weather?
Now that we have experienced the “pause” in global warming and have begun to rest easy about the climate future, what is there really to deter us from continuing, even increasing, our exploitation of the abundant energy available to us from shale, from oil, from coal? Obviously nothing, save for the pitiable cries of uninformed […]
Matt Talbot: What happened to the future we were promised?
IN MY CHILDHOOD IN THE 1960S AND ’70S, I remember confident predictions of what life was going to be like in the 21st century: flying cars, sprawling bases on the moon, rocket planes flying from American airports up to wheeling space stations in low orbit, super-intelligent computers, mass production by robots enabling more leisure time […]
Jerome Page: Forget that heat; where’s my dividend?
I OPEN TODAY WITH A DAILY KOS BULLETIN trumpeting the courageous stand just taken by the Oklahoma legislature, which by a vote of 10 to 1 moved to block acceptance of proposed statewide science standards. It was very clear that the issue of climate change content was the critical reason for the action. The Oklahoma […]
Matt Talbot: 50 years ago
FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, on May 22, 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson stood before that year’s graduating class at the University of Michigan and delivered the speech that launched his Great Society program. It is a sad commentary on both the state of our economy and our politics that a Democratic president giving a similar […]
A problem of science, and of understanding
AS A REGULAR READER of The Herald’s editorial page, in recent weeks I noticed that a fellow citizen continues to write and publish various bits of weather data from the U.S. and California. His postings appear to imply that climate change does not exist.
Jerome Page: Melting ice, and a salute to my critics
BEFORE MOVING TO A WARMING TOPIC, I thought to share with my readers a bit of my inspired fan mail as presented in the comments section of The Herald’s website. This is to confirm for all those who distrust my commentary that others do share their angst and that, while not quite in agreement, I […]
Dennis Lund: Government might has proven Goldwater right
“A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have.” — Barry M. Goldwater MODERN CONSERVATISM HAS MANY FATHERS. Edmund Burke of Ireland may be its originator, but in the last century, certainly, William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater were transformational figures. Goldwater, especially, derided as he […]
Bob Moore: Are area cities warming?
DO TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR LOCAL CITIES SHOW A WARMING TREND? Let’s look at the three largest local cities with the longest historical temperature records: San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose. The historical annual average temperature record for San Francisco is shown in Chart 1, Sacramento in Chart 2 and San Jose in Chart 3. These […]
Matt Talbot: Resisting empire
IS THE UNITED STATES AN IMPERIAL POWER? I would say that it is, and that the evidence for this view is overwhelming. We spend more on our military than all of our main rivals — combined. Our troops garrison the world, we have bases on every continent, our Navy rules the waves, and so on. […]