Published: 7/7/2021 4:26:29 PM
I wrote a piece for today’s column and th"> Published: 7/7/2021 4:26:29 PM
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Columnist Marty Nathan: Time for procrastinating without action is over "> Published: 7/7/2021 4:26:29 PM I wrote a piece for today’s column and then, for the first time, rejected it outright. It was to have followed standard protocol: new tangible evidence of climate change, new scientific reports increasingly dire and then practical interventions to fight fossil fuels, while offering hope that we are not too late. I couldn’t do it. Not that the piece wasn’t honest and accurate in what it offered: Yes, the record-breaking heat in the Pacific Northwest, with temperatures reaching 117 degrees in Oregon, claimed the lives of hundreds of people in this area which has never before needed summer air conditioning. Yes, the heat dome was icing on a prolonged climate change-based western drought cake that has drained reservoirs and wells throughout the West Coast and sapped all moisture from forests, making them tinder for the next carelessly-tended campfire or lightning strike. Yes, in 2021 Boston suffered the hottest June in recorded history, a miserable, blistering stretch that made any outdoor activity unsafe.