By BARBARA SMITH
Los Alamos
I was reading Mr. David Hanson’s Op-Ed published July 14 in the Los Alamos Daily Post (link) and would like to comment and dissect his points. As Mr. Hanson pointed out, we should all read and put forth our comments to the County Council on the CAP document before August 6 when it is presented to the Council. Otherwise it will be forced upon us whether we like it or not.
(1) “The focus of the plan on CO2 tracking and reduction will provide no benefit to Los Alamos residents unless the rest of the world participates with us. It distracts our attention and consumes funding that could otherwise be used towards necessary actions having a more immediate effect.”
(1) Mr. Hanson, you are totally correct. This is a waste of time and the County’s funds (and our taxes). This part of the plan should be scrapped immediately for the above reason given.
(2) “Every day, the evening and online news is filled with accounts of property damage and loss of life due to (what used to be considered unprecedented) extreme weather events. Climate change is no longer an environmental issue to be addressed in the future; it threatens the public health of the US on a daily basis and our municipal and county governments have the responsibility to prepare for it. The challenges come in many forms: catastrophic floods, wildfires, extreme temperatures (high and low), wind, drought and pathogen spread.”
“Recall the cold snap in Texas in 2021 that took the lives of (at least) 278 people and the wildfire in Maui that destroyed the city of Lahaina and caused over 100 fatalities.”
(2) Mr. Hanson is right about all the news telling about all these terrible things that he highlighted (even if it is a bit exaggerated) that are scaring our children. And the damage all this exaggerated news is making our children stressed and depressed. We should be ashamed of ourselves.
The fires in Maui were caused from the abandoned pineapple fields above Lahaina that caught fire and the strong down-slope winds ripped straight through Lahaina. Mr. Hanson, you are right they should have identified and planned on tackling that problem before it happened, but don’t blame it on climate change. Blame it on the pineapple field’s owners for abandoning the fields and letting them grow up to flammable weeds, something like we have in Los Alamos to some extent. Remember water is our most expensive and precious utility, for now, but electricity could take over with some of CAP’s proposals of full scale electrification based on unreliable solar and wind power. Thus full electrification is a bad idea for Los Alamos.
(3.1) “In 2023, the US experienced over 2,300 heat related deaths – 13 times as many as the average over the previous 20 years. It is heat events, especially those of long duration, that are most deadly. Los Alamos is certainly vulnerable to this danger due to the significant fraction of our population that is elderly or of low and moderate income who do not have refrigerated air conditioning. Our government must have emergency plans in place before the extreme weather events occur. The Climate Action Plan should be focusing on these near-term climate threats.”
(3.1). Many older people are scratching their heads. Why do you have to have home refrigerated air conditioning in Los Alamos. During the summer one opens the windows in the cool evenings and helps the cool air to enter and the same thing in our nice cool mornings. Close the windows and pull down the curtains during the day to prevent the home from warming. Los Alamos has the best weather compared to almost anywhere, and I have lived in some really hot places.
Where did these heat related deaths occur? Were they in the hot/humid south? Arizona? Were they in large cities which have such severe “Heat Island Effects” that the buildings and streets do not cool at night but radiate so much heat that the air doesn’t cool. You can’t equate this to Los Alamos where our weather is quite moderate and we do not have the “city” effect.
How much has the Country’s population grown in the last 20 years? Giving just a number of heat related deaths in 2023 and comparing it over a 20 year average doesn’t make sense as the Country’s population has increased, especially in the south, and it is probably about proportional to the new 2023 population, but I would have to verify your numbers. Besides, it has been shown that more deaths are caused by extreme cold which we seldom get in Los Alamos.
Who uses the most air conditioning in town? Does the County raise their buildings temperature to 75 F to save energy? How about the LEED built county buildings, the Justice Center Building, the libraries, Smith’s, visitor centers, the senior center, etc. Some of these places could be used as respite from severe heat, (as if Los Alamos really has very much severe heat.) I must admit that the last few days were warm, but it is our normal, summer monsoon season and it isn’t anything I haven’t seen over the many years I have lived here. It is variable from day to day and year to year and is called “weather”.
Some questions for the CAP promoters and the County Council. What if we do not like to cook with electric stoves? When high efficiency gas furnaces are turned off in the early spring and not turned on until later fall (did I say we have great weather in Los Alamos), the gas cooking stove is barely a blip in the utility bill. Does a restaurant chef cook with an electric stove? What if you recently installed a high efficiency gas furnace? How are you going to retrofit all the many old homes in Los Alamos and who is going to pay for it? Having expensive electricity competing with our current most expensive utility, water, should be terrifying. What if you tried to seal your home from potential heat/cold leaks but can’t because of the underground hydrology of our LA mountains (water runs down hill underground and under homes)?
Why is CAP proposing more green space and tree planting for shading if they require water (lots of water). Normal low precipitation in the desert south-west (annually about 16 in/year) and the density of trees is partially why there are so many dead trees around the county. Why aren’t these trees being removed to mitigate fire danger? Why are so many of our freedoms of choice being taken away from us with the current CAP proposal? Maybe these are questions for the County Council? Have all Council members even read the draft CAP proposal?
There is nothing stopping individuals who feel strongly about many of these weather issues to pursue their own conversions that are proposed in the CAP document, like going all electric, retrofitting their homes, new windows, more insulation, ride bicycles, walk, etc. etc. etc. as long as they pay for it themselves. Many people have put solar at /on their homes as a choice. Just do not force it on others in the community by going to the County Council and asking them to mandate these changes and then have others pay for it. What is lost is our freedom to choose.
Mr. Hanson, I agree with some of your premises, but do not like the use of exaggeration to promote them. We get enough of that from the News Media.