Article:
The Orlando Sentinel, Nov. 19, 2004, by Linda Shrieves, the link is
here until about 5 a.m. EDT Sat. morning. Site is registration required, so I've quoted amply to give you the gist of the story.
And that is:
Imagine Florida under water.
A scientific study released last week -- but ignored by most Floridians -- reported that the polar ice caps are melting. And although that's sad for polar bears and Eskimos and those who live in the area, here's the real kick in the knickers for Floridians: The ice caps are melting so fast, scientists say, that much of the Florida coastline may be underwater by 2099.
That means most dKos participants ought to see the first real-time disaster-type effects within their lifetimes, maybe as soon as next hurricane season (which starts in August). Care to speculate what effects this could have on 2008 and 2012 elections?
(Please note: "Eskimo" is a western idiom Inuits and other indigenous Arctic region people resent. My apologies.)
In 2004, Florida reportedly voted for Bush 52-47 percent (3,574,509 Kerry vs. 3,955,656 Bush), despite a Democrat majority and the most massive organizational effort by Bush opponents that one studious political observer (me) has seen in 33 years of medium close-on rubbernecking (that experience includes a four years as a party precinct chairman, five (local) campaigns as a paid consultant, and recent years as a cynical recluse).
Florida claims to be the nation's third most populous state and probably ranks fourth behind Texas. Florida is America's Australia, a sort of aspiring red state governed, for the most part over most of the past century, by relocated red-aspiring Midwesterners (who think of Jeb as the "smart" Bush brother).
The local newspaper (from whence this article) is a (Chicago) Tribune Company subsidiary. The dominant ethnic group here is Ohio.
But...last month, for the first time since LBJ 40 years ago, the Orlando Sentinel endorsed a Democrat for president. Orange County, the home of Walt Disney World, voted blue in 2004. Every spring, Gay Days attracts more than 100,000 producers and partiers here from all over the world (and, mirthfully, dire public threats of annihilation from the Falwell-Robertson-Dr. Laura cult).
This is a region of contradictions, evidence, perhaps of impending change. Disney World attracts more than 20 million wholesome, fun-loving family visitors annually and, according to some obscure Heisenbergian formula, ranks as the world's most popular tourism destination every five years or so. On the other hand, our Right-wing, Republican, Recently-Reelected county sheriff and equally RRRR congressthug have both touted Disney as a prime target for terrorists.
So, when a dusty old whitebread daily like the Orlando Sentinel runs stuff like this on Page 1 of its lifestyle section, above the fold, with a cutesy Security Mom graphic and an equally cutesy header ("Go with the floe"), it means some of the upper-crusty are finally starting to get it.
Still, something like half the radio stations in Florida are owned by Clear Channel.
Until now, all this talk of global warming seemed so distant, so next century.
We Americans could gleefully tool around in gas-hogging SUVs, confident that any major impact on the Earth would happen centuries from now.
But when the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report came out Nov. 8, the effect of our fossil-fuel-burning ways became clear. Although some of the Earth's warming can be attributed to natural causes, there's no doubt, scientists say, that humans have contributed to the problem.
Most dKos readers will roll their eyes at this "news." But an awful lot of aspiring red-staters, here and throughout the U.S., have been tuned to a steady Clear Channel diet of denial and diffusion. Give us 50 or 60 hurricane deaths next year, a couple of white, church-going families-of-four, and the scale could tip, who knows?
We Democrats and progressive-minded activists are now engaged in rather profound period of self-flagellation that's more than adequately reflected in our own arguments here at dKos. Meanwhile, the world is falling apart and we are unleashing half a dozen forms of death and destruction (not the least of which is our own military imperialism) that threaten the future of this planet, and most especially the lives and happiness of our own children.
Generally, such death and destruction inspires calls for reform, but for opportunistic officials (Jeb Bush was most deft during the recent hurricanes) they represent, well, opportunities...to lead.
But eventually, inevitably, the rah-rah fades. Eventually, inevitably, even the most ardent ideologues will have to face reality. The Greeks (Aristotle?) had a word to mean the moment when the hero of a tragedy recognizes that his principal assumptions are false, that he is no longer the hero but the fool. I'll rate a "4" for the first dKos participant who can remember the word (or correct my assertion).
Of course, the selfish among us will wonder: How does this affect me?
Well, if you own an oceanfront condo in Cocoa Beach or New Smyrna, you don't have to worry about passing it on to your grandchildren. By the time the kids are in college, the condos may be crumbling into the sea.
And South Beach? As they say in New York, fuhgeddaboutit.
Miami could become the next Atlantis, Fort Lauderdale the next Venice (and we don't mean Venice, Florida). In fact, much of South Florida may eventually look like a scene from Kevin Costner's Waterworld.
In 2004, south Florida [Dade, Broward and Ruch Limbaugh's own Palm Beach counties] reportedly voted blue, so the initial effects of the coming deluge will be to shift a significant proportion of voters to higher ground and, presumably, to red counties.
However, for people in Central Florida, there could be a silver lining: Sure, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and St. Petersburg may be submerged, but Bithlo [small rural community just east of Orlando] will be oceanfront property.
And downtown Orlando should be hot, hot, hot.
Assuming wealthier people tend disproportionately to vote red, and wealthier people are more able to relocate, in theory, at least, Florida will "go blue" soon.
More good news: an A.P. story yesterday says many Californians are relocating to Florida because housing here is cheaper. Bluer yet. Or I'm being wishful.
Okay, so here's the punch line.
The above article more than capably illustrates, to even rabid idealogues, that we are destroying our universe. And while its effects remain to be seen, we Democrats find a lesson in it. The sorts of conditions the article describes are see-hear-touch-smell conditions that (will eventually) effect every man, woman and child in the state.
We Democrats might better focus our energies on identifying and naming those see-hear-touch-smell conditions our democracy is currently engendering, namely: well, Armageddon comes to mind right off the top.
Generally, diarists and participants who raise specific "doomsday" issues here at dKos tend to attract little response, usually for good reason.
Nevertheless, as a species we Democrats seem to have an easier time naming those things we oppose than those things we stand for (I attribute this to my own chronic cynicism).
Some people will head for the hills when the water starts rising.
For them, Jackie Sanderson, a real estate agent in Orlando, recommends northern Georgia and parts of Alabama. "The mountains of North Carolina are already too expensive," she says.
Call for Action
So, please, indulge me with a little doomsday scenario-ing.
What sorts of quantifiable effects do you expect we'll experience over the next four years? The next eight? How bad will it get?
Civil war? The $20 gallon of gas? Let's not aim for big abstracts like nuclear winter unless we have to. Here's a starter: yesterday, at the grocery store, here in sunny, fertile, we-grow-lots-of-vegetables-Florida, tomatoes were priced at $3.29 per pound.
Answer the question posed by the reporter: How does this affect me?