Before It’s Too Late

Fandango

The members of the progressive caucus were in lockstep as their chairman began to expatiate on the urgency of dealing with climate change. “We are in the middle of a historic drought,” he said. “Our once plush green fields have turned to arid deserts. We must stop procrastinating or we will continue to have out of control wildfires and other weather extremes that will further exacerbate our climate crisis, which grows more dire with each passing month of inaction.”

“The foregoing comments from my esteemed colleague on the left,” the conservative congressman interrupted, “reflect his empty, liberal rhetoric designed to provide cover for all this hysteria around so-called climate change. Throughout recorded history there have been multiple cyclical weather patterns, yet our planet has survived and humanity has thrived.”

“Sir,” the progressive caucus chairman said, “climate and weather are not the same. Weather refers to short-term atmospheric conditions, while climate refers to long-term and potentially irreversible changes to the weather averaged over an extended period of time.”

“You liberals are bound and determined to destroy our economy by spending billions of dollars to fix a problem that doesn’t exist,” the conservative congressman said. “There have always been incidents of wildfires, massive storms, floods, and earthquakes. Let us not be reactionaries and go off half-cocked.”

“Congressman, you are seventy-five years old. If you can’t do what’s necessary to save our planet for your generation, think about what you can do to save it for your grandchildren’s generation — before it’s too late.”

“That’s their problem, not mine,” the congressman said coldly. “They’ll figure something out.”

“No, congressman, it’s up to us to figure this out before we completely squander our children’s futures. We need to act now or we will have missed this, and possibly the final, opportunity to save our planet.”

Written for these daily prompts from yesterday: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (lockstep), Your Daily Word Prompt (expatiate), Ragtag Daily Prompt (arid), My Vivid Blog (procrastinating), E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (foregoing), Word of the Day Challenge (cover), and The Daily Spur (incident).

31 thoughts on “Before It’s Too Late”

  2. Gr8BigFun March 10, 2022 / 4:06 am

    I’d say can’t see the forest for the trees but they cut all the trees down to print money.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. XingfuMama March 10, 2022 / 8:37 am

    I realize this is fiction, but can’t help myself from pointing out: In real life the chair”man” of the Progressive Caucus is a woman: Pramila Jayapal. She’s my rep so I feel like pointing it out. Rarely have I felt so represented.

    Like

    • Fandango March 10, 2022 / 10:03 pm

      And she is an amazing person. I was using “chairman” in the generic sense, as one might say, “Madam Chairman,” or how people will often refer to a group of people as “guys” even though the group includes both males and females.

      Like

  4. Marilyn Armstrong March 10, 2022 / 8:41 am

    Yeah, well, whatever time we had, we’ve pretty much squandered. I’m not sure we really have time to fix much of anything unless we started doing it yesterday and at the latest, right NOW. We’ve just busy fighting a war, aren’t we. Isn’t that what ALWAYS happens when we face a big problem that requires international cooperation? Instead of cooperating, we have a big war? Isn’t this how we wound UP in this place?

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Nope, Not Pam March 10, 2022 / 11:01 am

    Priorities, money versus existence.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Marleen March 10, 2022 / 12:38 pm

    FOWC with Fandango — Nasty

    I was deciding (or trying to decide), recently, how to invest an IRA account. The planner sitting with me suggested a moral option. I asked how it would be moral (he used a different word, for instance, “ethical” or the more industry-specific terminology); he answered about guns and abortion. He brought in their “expert” who said she really had something for me. The sell, was supporting “infrastructure” while also not investing in oil. Sounded good, but I decided to think it through. Part of the sales job had been that the infrastructure was international, not only (or perhaps not in) the United States. I joked that it was good it was international because the United States doesn’t do infrastructure any more (our crumbling bridges and so forth being notorious). Then it hit me. Our new “infrastructure” is privatized and moving toward privatized (and everything is about making a buck rather than serving the public). So I looked up the fund that was being proffered to me. Lo and behold, it involved pipelines in my country that I had been actively against for their threat to clean water! (That’s aside from the oil use adding to co2.)

    Liked by 2 people

    • Marleen March 10, 2022 / 3:51 pm

      This author, David Cay Johnston, was on TYT more recently saying that it looks like they might not indict… not because he’s not guilty but because white collar crime is not considered very serious. Meanwhile, a man who steals a few videos because he can’t afford Christmas presents for his kids gets life in prison.

      https://occupysf.net/index.php/2021/12/20/trump-is-about-to-be-indicted-for-racketeering-in-new-york-david-cay-johnston/

      Trump is about to be indicted for racketeering in New York: David Cay Johnston

      By admin | December 20, 2021 |Uncategorized

      John Wright December 18, 2021 (rawstory.com)

      Liked by 1 person

    • Fandango March 10, 2022 / 10:11 pm

      Good think you took a deeper dive.

      Like

      • Marleen March 11, 2022 / 3:18 am

        I am really glad I did. Most people — of those who care at all — have a childlike sense that listening to a salesperson (in other words, sorry to tell you, your financial planner or adviser) say to you that you can invest in clean or green energy funds and socially responsible funds gets you what you’re looking for and will be happy about. Just choose to be a “good” girl or boy without knowing the details. Others cynically point out that you can hardly do it; welcome to the system. Not only is there this system, they contend, forget about trying to overcome it: We will get you (with aspersions about supremacy or purity) for living with us here in the world. At the same time, it has to be more than candidates who desire to be conscientious beyond a sales pitch using the word ethical before humanity can get anywhere. And I continue to use a trash service rather than compost and recycle everything.

        https://www.thedailybeast.com/jill-steins-ideology-says-one-thingher-investment-portfolio-says-another?ref=scroll

        ‘(Stein told The Daily Beast she inherited “over a half-million dollars” from her parents.) ….

        ‘…….

        ‘….

        ‘She has made purity a central pillar of her presidential candidacy, and she has held that the Green Party reigns above all others with respect to moral and ethical supremacy. In an interview with CNN last April, she said, “I have long since thrown in the towel on the Democratic and Republican parties because they are really a front group for the 1 percent, for predatory banks, fossil-fuel giants, and war profiteers.”

        ‘Most of Stein’s investments are in mutual funds or index funds. Experts suggest these funds, which are usually highly diversified, provide more consistent returns than picking individual stocks.’

        {Well, dang. The news source stopped letting me access the arthcle. I wanted to quote another part if it.}

        ‘While it’s true that Stein would not have control over the investments of the funds she invested in…. political candidates, in an effort to avoid a conflict of interest or have their judgment called into question, have invested their entire portfolios in U.S. Treasuries, cash/cash equivalents, in socially responsible index funds, or clean-energy funds. In her statement, Stein said that she has “explored” more socially responsible funds but “found their investments in fracking and large-scale biofuels not much better than the non-green funds. I have not yet found the mutual funds that represent my goals of advancing the cause of people, planet, and peace.”

        ‘While Stein claims that she had difficulty finding funds that aligned with her values, she didn’t explain why she chose to remain in funds that are completely disjointed from her values. Many critics say clean-energy and socially responsible investment funds offer a poor rate of return and should generally be avoided. And with the Fed keeping interest rates below 1 percent, U.S. Treasuries and cash/cash equivalents don’t offer a high rate of return by anyone’s standard. ….. When asked during a CNN Green Party town-hall forum if she was concerned that her candidacy would help usher in a Trump presidency, Stein said, “I will have trouble sleeping at night if Donald Trump is elected. I will also have trouble sleeping at night if Hillary Clinton is elected.”

        ‘In 2006, Ms. Stein retired from teaching and medicine to focus full-time on her political activism. There’s little doubt that her decision to retire was made easier by the substantial returns her investments were producing, even if they went against her life’s work.’

        Liked by 1 person

        • Marleen April 8, 2022 / 3:51 pm

          Kim Iversen: Elon Musk BLASTS World Economic Forum’s
          ESG Social Score. Bill Gates TOPS the List · 2 days ago

          Liked by 1 person

      • Marleen March 12, 2022 / 2:35 am

        Saudi Arabia Humiliates Biden on World Stage

        — Breaking Points, March 10, with Saagar and Krystal

        Like

        • Marleen March 13, 2022 / 11:45 am

          The pair (above) at Breaking Points used to (months or a year ago) be on Rising (below) for The Hill. They don’t come up in my feed as much as they did. Meanwhile, I was glad to hear the aftermath of what Saagar was complaining about.

          >>>>>

          https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5FNjOTMacV4 WASHINGTON

          Kim, Robby, Ryan: Rising Is Back!

          Here’s Why We Were Off YouTube + Bioweapons In Ukraine Confirmed?

          Liked by 1 person

          • Marleen March 19, 2022 / 8:37 am

            Sarah Leah Whitson on Democracy Now, three days ago

            A Tale of Two Wars: Biden Decries Russian
            Atrocities … while Backing Saudi/UAE …

            Liked by 1 person

          • Marleen April 12, 2022 / 11:08 am

            Saudis Give Billions to Jared Kushner; Turkey
            Suspends Trial of Saudis Accused of Killing Khashoggi
            in Istanbul in 2018 [26 men/Saudi Crown Prince dismembered him]

            Liked by 1 person

    • Marleen March 11, 2022 / 3:42 am

      Here a good new — follow-up — story. I’d shared this general situation a month or so ago, when ignoring the reality was the continuing status quo.

      https://tyt.com/watch/6e6Xst82zYACGGyweSOkMg/1ZMRPXK8VfXohEhuSOCLEt/clips/184RRAr8kEkGYFthnZ8T1f

      Mar 9, 2022

      The U.S. Navy’s leaking oil tanks that have been polluting Oahu, Hawaii’s drinking water are finally permanently shutting down.

      The WWII-era fuel storage tanks have been slowly contaminating the drinking water of thousands of nearby residents with petroleum for years.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. emkingston March 10, 2022 / 2:03 pm

    There are so many parts of this that are important, like pointing out the differences between climate and weather. That one is paramount! This is an informative piece of “fiction”, my friend.

    Liked by 1 person

      • emkingston March 10, 2022 / 10:21 pm

        You’re most welcome! I always enjoy your truth in your fiction *if that makes sense*

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Lauren March 10, 2022 / 8:47 pm

    Are you sure this is fiction? It feel real.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. leigha66 April 1, 2022 / 11:24 am

    A very authentic story. Well done Fandango!

    Liked by 1 person

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