LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — September is forecast to get off to a very hot start, with the National Weather Service issuing an excessive heat watch for Lake County that will be in effect over the weekend and into early next week.
The National Weather Service’s long-range forecast said an “expansive area of anomalous heat will become centered over the Central Valley of California by Saturday afternoon, with peripheral areas such as Trinity, Lake, and eastern Mendocino Counties experiencing hot temperatures as well.”
The heat watch for Lake County warns of “dangerously hot conditions” from Saturday afternoon through Tuesday evening, with temperatures as high as 110 degrees expected.
While Lake County will be hot, much of the rest of Northern California, particularly the Sacramento Valley, could see temperatures as high as 114 degrees, the National Weather Service reported.
Around Lake County, Sunday and Monday are forecast to be the hottest days, with temperatures supposed to top out at around 109 degrees in Middletown those days. Other areas of Lake County will hover close to 105 degrees during that time frame.
Nighttime conditions through Tuesday are expected to drop into the low 60s.
The hot, dry temperatures will be accompanied by low relative humidity. Those conditions, coupled with the potential for winds, also are raising concerns for fire weather conditions during that time, the forecast said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council’s first meeting of September will include a proclamation honoring senior centers and an update on the city’s new recreation and events department.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
On the Thursday agenda is a proclamation declaring September 2022 as Senior Center Month.
City staff also will give the council an update on the plans for a new city recreation and events department.
Staff will report on what they’ve done since the council approved the division’s creation and what activities they have planned for the rest of the fiscal year.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are considered routine in nature and usually adopted on a single vote — are warrants; the second reading of Ordinance No. 266-2022 Amending Chapter 2, Section 2-7 of the Clearlake Municipal Code relating to traffic engineer and city engineer; continuation of the authorization to implement and utilize teleconference accessibility to conduct public meetings pursuant to Assembly Bill 361; and adoption of the first amendment to the FY 2022/23 Budget to appropriate funds for design and road paving services; Resolution No. 2022-55.
The council also will hold a closed session to discuss negotiations for a property at 6828 Old Highway 53, Clearlake.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting this week to discuss support for a grant application for a behavioral health facility for youth, an agreement to pursue funding for a broadband project and an agreement for a temporary Public Health officer.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting ID is 932 5597 2002, pass code 784271. The meeting also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16694449171,,93255972002#,,,,*784271#.
All interested members of the public that do not have internet access or a Mediacom cable subscription are encouraged to call 669-900-6833, and enter the Zoom meeting ID and pass code information above.
On the special meeting agenda is an untimed item for continued consideration of the board’s possible support of a behavioral health treatment facility for youth and grant opportunity update and a letter of support and authorize chair to sign.
At its Aug. 23 meeting the board had first considered a request for support from David Santos for the application of a grant through the California Department of Health Care Services’ Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program to build a behavioral health treatment facility for youth.
Santos said a nonprofit called Hope Health is being formed to construct a treatment facility and provide behavioral health services to rural youth.
While the board will consider offering a letter of support, staff is recommending against taking on any responsibility.
“Your Board requested that staff complete the due diligence required to analyze risk, staff capacity and other relevant factors to determine if the County should agree to become the lead fiscal agent on this grant application,” County Administrative Officer Susan Parker said in her memo to the board. “After careful review, the limited information available as to the transferability of the grant application, the lack of a draft Standard Agreement to review and the lack of staff capacity to assume grant management tasks resulted in the finding that the County should not consider assuming responsibilities of the lead fiscal agent for this application.”
Parker added, “However, staff does recognize the need for our rural youth to receive behavioral health services and support Hope Health's commitment to that goal.”
Also on Tuesday, on the board’s consent agenda is an item to appoint Dr. Karl A. Sporer as the Public Health Officer and approve the professional services contract for a term of six months for an amount not to exceed $6,000 a month for the term of the agreement and authorize chair to sign.
Parker’s report to the board explained that on June 28 the supervisors ratified the physician consultation services contract with Dr. Gary Pace to ensure that the ongoing public health mandates for services would continue to be performed. On Aug. 2, the board approved an amendment to extend the contract agreement to Aug. 31.
On Aug. 9, Dr. Pace submitted his formal notice stating that he had fulfilled his contractual obligations with the county of Lake and that he will no longer serve as the Public Health officer after Aug. 31, Parker reported.
“Upon receiving this formal notice, staff began exploring options to temporarily fill the Public Health Officer position while recruiting for a permanent replacement for the PHO vacancy,” Parker wrote. “After careful review, staff recommends appointing Karl A. Sporer, M.D. as the Public Health Officer for the County of Lake and approve the Professional Services Contract.”
In other business, the board will consider approving an agreement to obtain funding and technical assistance for the Broadband Fiber Network Design Project with the Golden State Connect Authority for an amount not to exceed $500,000, along with a letter of support for the local agency technical assistance grant.
Parker’s report said, “Lake County’s anticipated scope of work would include a feasibility study for broadband service ‘gaps’ to identify the unserved and underserved areas of the County not covered or partially covered by existing broadband service providers, with resulting high- and low-level network designs.”
In closed session, the board will hold interviews for the Community Development director and a performance evaluation for Behavioral Health Services Director Todd Metcalf.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Adopt CalOES designation of applicant‘s agent resolution for non-state agencies and authorize the chair to sign.
5.2: Adopt Proclamation designating Aug. 31, 2022, as International Overdose Awareness Day.
5.3: Appoint Dr. Karl A. Sporer as the Public Health officer and approve the professional services contract for a term of six months for an amount not to exceed $6,000 a month for the term of the agreement and authorize chair to sign.
5.4: Adopt resolution amending Resolution 81-523 authorizing an amendment in petty cash fund for agriculture commission.
5.5: Adopt resolution approving Agreement No. 22-0294-0008-SF with California Department of Food and Agriculture to authorize execution of the Asian Citrus Psyllid Winter Trapping Program in the Amount of $10,243.00 beginning Oct. 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.
5.6: Approve Amendment No. 2 between the county of Lake and New Life Health Authority dba New Life LLC, for substance use disorder outpatient drug free services, intensive outpatient treatment services, and narcotic treatment program services for a new contract maximum of $1,688,184 for fiscal year 2021-22 and authorize the board chair to sign.
5.7: Adopt resolution amending Resolution # 2021-115 adopting final budget for fiscal year 2021-22 to provide a temporary loan from Behavioral Health (fund 145) to Substance Use Disorder Services (Fund 141) and to cancel reserve designations in Substance Use Disorder Services (Fund 141).
5.8: Approve the following agreements: a) between the county of Lake and Leonard’s Hauling and Tractor, for nuisance abatement in an amount not to exceed $50,000, and nuisance abatement within the Road Map Task Force area, in an amount not to exceed $67,000, and authorize the chair to sign; b) between the county of Lake and Cook Construction and Engineering Partners for nuisance abatement in an amount not to exceed $50,000, and nuisance abatement within the Road Map Task Force area, in an amount not to exceed $67,000, and authorize the chair to sign; and c) between the county of Lake and 360 Junk Removal and Hauling, for nuisance abatement in an amount not to exceed $50,000, and nuisance abatement within the Road Map Task Force area, in an amount not to exceed $67,000, and authorize the chair to sign.
5.9: Approve school and special districts resolution requesting the Lake County Board of Supervisors’ approval of consolidation of each districts' election with the Nov. 8, 2022, General Election.
5.10: Approve long distance travel for Parks and Project Superintendent Brian Powers to Phoenix, Arizona to attend the National Recreation and Parks Association Annual Conference from Sept. 20 to 22, 2022.
5.11: Approve a purchase order for the purchase of a hamm vibratory roller for county road maintenance, and authorize the Public Works director/assistant purchasing agent to sign the purchase order.
5.12: Approve purchase of 100 computers, from Dell, in the amount of $78,118.28, and authorize the Social Services director to sign a purchase order.
TIMED ITEMS
6.3, 9:07 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating Aug. 31, 2022, as International Overdose Awareness Day.
6.4, 9:30 a.m.: Hearing on account and proposed assessment for nuisance abatement at 11630 Beryl Way, Clearlake Oaks (APN 035-262-33); property owner: Aura A. Thomas.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of a) behavioral health treatment facility for youth and grant opportunity update and b) a letter of support and authorize chair to sign.
7.3: Consideration of a) resolution designating the chair of the Lake County Board of Supervisors and county administrative officer or designee to execute documents on behalf of the county of Lake to request and obtain funding and technical assistance for facilitating the Broadband Fiber Network Design Project with the Golden State Connect Authority for amount not to exceed $500,000; and b) a letter of support for the local agency technical assistance grant and authorize chair to sign.
7.4: (a) Consideration of an update regarding the Technology Governance Committee; (b) consideration of a board agenda memo template providing links to resources and requesting information on purchasing policy compliance.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b)(1): Interviews for Community Development director; appointment of Community Development director.
8.2: Public employee evaluation: Behavioral Health director .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Responding to recent threats to the nation’s free election system by followers of former President Donald Trump, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that will ensure the state’s presidential electors cast ballots for candidates who win the popular vote and do not instead switch candidates or abstain from voting.
“This is a critical step toward protecting the legitimacy of our free election process and preventing extreme partisanship from denying the will of the voters,” Sen. Dodd said. “We must ensure our chosen electors uphold their responsibilities and do not go rogue, threatening the underpinnings of our democracy. I thank the governor for signing this needed legislation.”
“Free and fair elections are the very foundation of our democracy — and the will of the voters must be respected,” U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla said. “No one should be able to subvert the outcome of our elections. As California’s former top elections official, I know the importance of clear laws and rules to protect the democratic process. That’s why I support this legislation as an important safeguard on presidential elections in California.”
“American democracy is not self-effectuating – it requires constant vigilance by our citizens and our representatives, from the corridors of our state capitols to the halls of Congress. We must shore up our democratic institutions along its fault lines, especially those that have been exposed over the past few years,” said U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank. “Senate Bill 103 is vital to safeguarding the integrity of our elections and the will of California voters for generations to come. I applaud state Sen. Bill Dodd for championing this legislation, and Gov. Newsom for signing it into law.”
Sen. Dodd introduced Senate Bill 103 amid increased national attention on the manipulation of the Electoral College system following the 2020 presidential election.
Although President Joe Biden was the clear winner over President Trump, some groups in other states suggested electors might ignore the outcome and ratify Trump instead.
While 33 states and the District of Columbia have laws requiring electors to uphold their voting pledges, many do not have any enforcement mechanism and a majority have no way to make sure electors faithfully comply.
Sen. Dodd’s legislation governing California’s 55 electors would void their vote if they cast ballots for a candidate who did not win the majority of support in the state.
The faithless elector would be immediately replaced by a new elector who would cast a ballot for the winning candidate.
SB 103, sponsored by the bipartisan California Commission on Uniform State Laws, was signed by the governor late Monday. It has broad support at the state and national level.
Dodd formerly represented Lake County in the State Assembly and now represents California’s 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Yolo, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties.
A bill to notify the public and enlist assistance when Indigenous people, especially women and girls, go missing was approved on Monday in a key Assembly committee after amendments and approval in the Senate.
The “Feather Alert” bill, AB 1314, was introduced by Assemblymember James C. Ramos, the first and only California Native American serving in the state’s legislature.
“My bill, AB 1314, would help us get the word out sooner when an individual is missing or endangered, by asking the public for tips and leads as soon as possible when quick action is critical,” Ramos said. “Creating an alert or advisory system was a top recommendation from tribal leaders at a May 4 hearing to highlight this issue.”
Ramos also noted that California, the state with the greatest population of Native Americans in the nation, is also among the states with the highest rates of reported cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people.
Various studies found there are more than 5,700 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, or MMIW, but only 116 of the women in the cases were placed on the United States Department of Justice missing persons list.
In 2020, the Sovereign Bodies Institute found only 165 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit, or MMIWG2, were reported across California.
The report was funded and co-authored by the Yurok Tribe.
AB 1314 creates a state Endangered Missing Advisory, or EMA, system when Native Americans are at risk.
Currently, law enforcement agencies use the EMA to investigate suspicious disappearances of at-risk missing children or other threatened persons.
The California Highway Patrol’s website states, “EMAs provide immediate information to the public to aid in the swift recovery of at-risk persons.”
In April, Washington state approved similar legislation, and Colorado is considering implementing an alert program.
Ramos added, “The Legislature and administration are listening to those in the trenches fighting these crimes. These violent acts affect not only victims, but also families — and in too many instances, the lives of children who are left without a parent. We have much more work to do, but this is one step that can help now.”
“Assemblymember James Ramos has repeatedly worked to remind us that California’s indigenous peoples are still here, and their needs must be recognized,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon stated. “Establishing the Feather Alert to help stem the high rate of disappearances and violence against native Californians is another important way to do that.”
AB 1314 is sponsored by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Tachi Santa Rosa Rancheria.
Also supporting the bill are the Yurok Tribe, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, California State Sheriff’s Association, California Tribal Families Coalition, Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla Cupeno Indians, Torrez Martinez Band of Desert Cahuilla Indians and Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, California Consortium for Urban Indian Health and California Tribal Business Alliance.
Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and Devon Mathis (R-Visalia) are joint authors and co-authors are Assemblymembers Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier), Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles), Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona), Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), Mike Gipson (D-Carson), Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles), Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando), Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield), and Phil Ting (D-San Francisco). Senators Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara), Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Redlands) and Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) are also authors.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Joblessness in July was down not just in Lake County but across California and the nation, according to new reports.
The California Employment Development Department, or EDD, reported that Lake County’s unemployment rate was down to 4.2% from 4.4% in June and 7.7% in July 2021.
Lake County experienced its lowest unemployment rate in the last 30 years in May, with 3.8%.
Total farm employment in Lake County in July was up by 7.2% in a year-over comparison, and total nonfarm jobs rose by a total of 3.4% over the year, the report showed.
California’s unemployment rate decreased to a new record low in July to 3.9%, down from 4.2% in June, as the state’s employers added 84,800 nonfarm payroll jobs to the economy, the EDD reported.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said nationwide unemployment in July was 3.5%, down from 3.6% in June and 5.4% in July 2021.
California’s July 2022 unemployment rate of 3.9 percent is the lowest ever on record in a data series that dates back to 1976, according to the report.
California payroll jobs totaled 17,618,100 in July 2022, up 84,800 from June 2022 and up 850,600 from July of last year.
The state has now regained 97.3% (2,685,100) of the 2,758,900 nonfarm jobs lost during March and April of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of July 2022, California’s private sector (non-government) has fully recovered from pandemic losses.
The EDD said July 2022 marked the 10th consecutive month of nonfarm job gains and the 13th consecutive month of losses in unemployment. Seventeen of the past 18 months showed month-over nonfarm job gains totaling 1.6 million jobs over that time period.
Lake County ranked No. 38 out of the state’s 58 counties for its July jobless rate.
Lake’s neighboring counties’ jobless rates and ranks in the latest report are Colusa, 7.9%, No. 57; Glenn, 4.7%, No. 43; Napa, 2.6%, No. 7; Sonoma, 2.6%, No. 7; and Yolo, 3.2%, No. 20.
The county with the lowest unemployment was San Mateo with 1.9%, while Imperial had the highest, with 14.2%.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
When President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022, he called it the “largest investment ever” to fight climate change. He also said it would lead to the creation of well-paying union jobs to help “reduce emissions across every sector of our economy.” These jobs are also known as “clean energy jobs,” and the number of these jobs is expected to increase in the coming years as a result of the act’s US$369 billion investment in energy security and climate change.
Here, Shaun Dougherty, an expert in career and technical education, answers five questions about clean energy jobs, their expected growth and what kind of education a person needs to get one.
1. What is a ‘clean energy’ job?
In general, the term applies to any job that is related to producing goods and delivering services focused on conserving or protecting natural resources, or reducing their use.
So, there are jobs in manufacturing equipment for solar panel and wind turbine components. There are also sales jobs in solar energy – that is, selling solar panels to homeowners and landlords – as well as in installation, maintenance and repair in both the solar and wind industries. There is also growing demand for environmental engineers and scientists, whose jobs include helping to design solar panels and wind turbines and determine where they are placed.
2. How many green jobs will be created in the next few years?
About 9 million clean energy jobs will be created over the next decade, according to an analysis from the Political Economy Research Institute at UMass Amherst.
The federal government has also projected strong growth in clean energy jobs in the coming decade. Many of these jobs are expected expected to be as installers and technicians for both solar and wind energy. For instance, there is a projected 68% increase in wind turbine service technician jobs, and a projected 52% increase in solar panel installation jobs over the next decade. However, the growth in the actual number of such jobs will be relatively small: 4,700 and 6,100, respectively.
There is also a growing need for environmental scientists and specialists, who use their knowledge of science to protect the environment and people’s health. The federal government projects there will be 7,300 new jobs in these fields over the next decade.
3. How much do these jobs pay?
Clean energy jobs pay at least $2 more per hour – or nearly 10% more – than the national average of $23.86 per hour.
Estimates from the Department of Labor show that across occupations, clean energy jobs pay well. For example, solar installers could make about $47,000 per year, wind turbine technicians about $52,000 annually and engineers nearly $100,000.
4. What kind of education do you need to get a green job?
Not a whole lot beyond high school. Solar installation jobs usually require only a high school diploma. Turbine technicians need more advanced training, but that’s usually a certificate that can be earned at a technical or community college. The highest-paying jobs as environmental scientists or engineers, however, require a two- or four-year college degree.
Also, college isn’t the only way to get a clean energy job. You can get a clean energy job through Job Corps, a federal program that works with young people who have had difficulty getting an education or employment. Research shows Job Corps, at least historically, boosts earnings for the young people it serves.
5. Where’s the best place to live to get a green job?
Right now, there are more green jobs in the places that are set up to supply renewable energy and that have created incentives to build the infrastructure for clean energy. For solar, this means famously sunny places like California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Texas, Florida and Colorado. It also includes states that have created incentives to increase the potential for clean energy use, such as North Carolina, New York and Massachusetts. Texas is top for wind energy employment, but other Plains states, like the Dakotas, also fare well.
A recent report from the Brookings Institution – a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. – highlighted where it is cheapest to produce wind and solar energy. This includes areas where there a lot of jobs in nonrenewable energies, as opposed to clean energy.
This is a hopeful sign. It suggests that clean energy jobs may be coming to areas that might otherwise lose out as the country moves toward greater reliance on renewable energy.
As global temperatures rise, people in the tropics, including places like India and Africa’s Sahel region, will likely face dangerously hot conditions almost daily by the end of the century – even as the world reduces its greenhouse gas emissions, a new study shows.
The mid-latitudes, including the U.S., will also face increasing risks. There, the number of dangerously hot days, marked by temperatures and humidity high enough to cause heat exhaustion, is projected to double by the 2050s and continue to rise.
In the study, scientists looked at population growth, economic development patterns, energy choices and climate models to project how heat index levels – the combination of heat and humidity – will change over time. We asked University of Washington atmospheric scientist David Battisti, a co-author of the study, published Aug. 25, 2022, to explain the findings and what they mean for humans around the world.
What does the new study tell us about heat waves in the future, and importantly the impact on people?
There are two sources of uncertainty when it comes to future temperature. One is how much carbon dioxide humans are going to emit – that depends on things like population, energy choices and how much the economy grows. The other is how much warming those greenhouse gas emissions will cause.
In both, scientists have a really good sense of the likelihood of various scenarios. For this study, we combined those estimates to get a likelihood in the future of having dangerous and life-threatening temperatures.
We looked at what these “dangerously high” and “extremely dangerous” levels on the heat index would mean for daily life in both the tropics and in the mid-latitudes.
“Dangerous” in this case refers to the likelihood of heat exhaustion. Heat exhaustion won’t kill you if you’re able to stop and slow down – it’s characterized by fatigue, nausea, a slowed heartbeat, possibly fainting. But you really can’t work under these conditions.
The heat index indicates when a person is likely to reach that threshold. The National Weather Service defines “dangerous” as a heat index of 103 F (39.4 C), and “extremely dangerous” as 125 F (51.7 C). If a person gets to “extremely dangerous” temperatures, that can lead to heat stroke. At that level, you have a few hours to get medical attention to cool your body down, or you die.
“Extremely dangerous” heat index conditions are almost unheard of today. They happen in a few locations near the Gulf of Oman, for example, for maybe a few days in a decade.
But the odds of the number of “dangerous” days are increasing as the planet warms. We’ll likely have about the same weather variability as today, but it’s all happening on top of a higher average temperature. So, the likelihood of extremely hot conditions increases.
What does your study show for each region?
In the mid-latitudes by 2050, we’ll see the number of dangerous heat days double in the most likely future scenario – even under modest greenhouse gas emissions that would meet the Paris climate agreement target of keeping warming under 2 C (3.6 F).
In the Southeastern U.S., the most likely scenario is that people will experience a month or two of dangerous heat days every year. The same is likely in parts of China, where some regions have been sweating through a summer 2022 heat wave for over two straight months.
We found that by the end of the century, most places in the mid-latitudes will see a three- to tenfold increase in the number of dangerous days.
In the tropics, such as parts of India, the heat index right now can exceed the dangerous level for a few weeks a year. It’s been like that for the past 20 to 30 years. By 2050, those conditions are likely to occur over several months each year, we found. And by the end of the century, many places will see those conditions most of the year.
What that means in practice is if you’re a rich country like the U.S., most people can afford or find air conditioning. But if you’re in the tropics, where about half the world’s population lives and poverty is higher, the heat is a more serious problem for a good part of the year. And a large percentage of people there work outside in agriculture.
As we get toward the end of the century, we’ll start exceeding “extremely dangerous” conditions in several places, primarily in the tropics.
Northern India could see over a month per year in extremely dangerous conditions. Africa’s Sahel region, where poverty is widespread, could see a few weeks of extremely dangerous conditions per year.
Can humans adapt to what sounds like a dystopian future?
If you’re a rich country, you can build cooling facilities and generate electricity to run air conditioners – hopefully they won’t be powered with fossil fuels, which would further warm the planet.
If you’re a developing country, a very large fraction of people work outdoors in agriculture to earn money to buy food. There, if you think about it, there aren’t a lot of options.
Migrant workers in the U.S. also face more difficult conditions. A farm might be able to provide cooling facilities, but farmers’ margins are pretty small and migrant workers are often paid by volume, so when they aren’t picking, they aren’t paid.
Eventually, conditions will get to the point that more workers are overheating and dying.
The heat will be a problem for crops, too. We expect most of the major grains to be less productive in the future because of heat stress. In the mid-latitudes right now, we’re close to optimal temperatures for growing grains. But as temperatures increase, grain yield goes down. In the tropics, that could be anywhere between a 10% to 15% reduction per degree Celsius increase. That’s a pretty big hit.
What can be done to avoid these risks?
Part of our work in this study was determining the odds that the world will actually meet the Paris agreement. We found that to be around 0.1%. Basically, it’s not going to happen.
By the end of the century, we found the most likely scenario is that the planet will see 5.4 F (3 C) of warming globally compared to pre-industrial times. Land warms faster than ocean, so that translates to about a 7 F (3.9 C) increase for places where we live, work and play – and you can get a sense of the future.
The faster renewable energy comes online and fossil fuel use is shut down, the better the chances of avoiding that.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Firefighters contained a small wildland fire in the Black Forest on Mount Konocti on Monday, a fire that appeared shortly after a brief thunderstorm.
The Konocti fire was reported shortly after 1:30 p.m. Monday. It was said to be about half a mile up the mountain, with crews accessing it from the Riviera Heights subdivision.
Posts from readers on Lake County News’ Facebook page explained that there had been lightning and rain in the area.
One woman said she saw a lightning strike hit and start the fire as she was watching the rainstorm.
Crews that hiked into the area found a small spot and a tree on fire, according to radio traffic.
Cal Fire sent air resources, with air attack directing helicopters and tankers that were able to quickly hit the blaze before ground crews could get to it.
The fire was reported to be contained just before 4 p.m. at one tenth of an acre.
Firefighters were on scene for several hours afterward for mop up.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Craig Volden, University of Virginia and Alan E. Wiseman, Vanderbilt University
Americans dislike Congress, especially when it fails to act on pressing problems. They are then surprised by legislative accomplishments on climate change, gun control and maintaining competitiveness with China.
We have spent more than a decade exploring the thousands of bills and hundreds of laws produced by members of Congress each year. We find that individual representatives and senators vary dramatically in how interested they are in lawmaking and how effectively they advance their proposals. And we see opportunities to build a better Congress.
We have devised and generated a “Legislative Effectiveness Score” for each member of the House and Senate for each two-year Congress for the past 50 years. These scores are based on 15 metrics, capturing how many bills each lawmaker sponsors, how far they progress toward law and how substantively significant they are. The scores are politically neutral, with members of both parties scoring higher upon advancing whatever policies they think are best.
Voters can use these scores to see how their political representatives have fared in this measure, perhaps finding them among the 23% of representatives or 19% of senators who were highly effective in the most recently completed Congress. And researchers use them to determine the factors that make lawmakers effective in Congress.
Based on our work, we have identified five ways that legislators, reformers and voters can help promote effective lawmaking in Congress.
1. Lawmakers can focus their legislative agendas on their interests, committee assignments and constituency needs
Members of Congress face many demands on their time. They are almost always campaigning or raising money for the next election. Their time on Capitol Hill is punctuated with committee meetings and calls to votes on the House or Senate floor.
Such pressures leave little time to formulate new policies, build coalitions and advance their proposals. Effective lawmakers do not have more time than others – they simply align these various activities toward a common goal of lawmaking.
Effective lawmakers introduce bills that combine their own interests and passions with the needs of their constituencies and their committee assignments.
Thus, time spent away from Washington, in their home states and districts, is focused on identifying the policy needs of their constituents and highlighting their policy successes; time in committee is spent making and refining their policy proposals; time milling around between votes is used to build coalitions.
For the effective lawmaker, all these different activities form a coherent whole.
2. Legislators can view lawmaking as a team sport
No member of Congress can accomplish anything by himself or herself. Effective lawmakers recognize this and build a successful team.
They then join with like-minded colleagues to take advantage of the added resources provided by legislative caucuses, such as additional staff support and independent policy analyses, apart from the help provided by party leadership.
Moreover, for effective lawmakers, their team is not limited to their political party. Those willing to co-sponsor bills written by members of the other party find more bipartisan support for their own efforts. Our analysis demonstrates that such bipartisan lawmakers are the most successful at advancing their bills through Congress.
3. Lawmakers can specialize and develop policy expertise
Members of Congress need to be generalists to vote knowledgeably on diverse policy topics on any given day. Many take that generalist view to their lawmaking portfolio, sponsoring legislation in each of the 21 major issue areas addressed by Congress.
But we find that the most effective lawmakers dedicate about half of their time, attention and legislative proposals to a single issue area. By becoming an acknowledged experts in issues of health or education or international affairs, for example, lawmakers become central to policy formulation in their area of interest.
4. Reforms can reinforce good lawmaking habits
Individual lawmakers in Congress could adopt any of the practices above to become more effective. But institutional reforms could help reinforce such good behaviors.
Without electoral rewards for effective lawmaking, members of Congress may focus on being show horses rather than legislative workhorses.
The role of voters starts with the initial selection of candidates. Voters might consider whether candidates demonstrate policy expertise and speak about the benefits of bipartisanship, for example. They might consider our analysis showing that effective state legislators and women tend to be more effective lawmakers in Congress, on average.
On the whole, Congress can function much better. Effective lawmakers from the past have shown the path forward. Our analysis of 50 years of data offers lessons that any representative or senator can adopt, as well as reforms and electoral pressures that can nudge them in the right direction.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Female gray tabby
This 2-year-old female gray tabby has a short coat with white markings.
Shelter staff said she is an adult cat with some playful kitten tendencies when toys are brought out. “She has a sweet little meow and likes to have playful chats with you.”
She is in cat room kennel No. 28, ID No. LCAC-A-3661.
Female domestic shorthair cat
This 2-year-old female domestic shorthair cat has an all-black coat.
Shelter staff said she is a “master greeter.”
“She is very talkative and likes softs pets down her back. She is uncomfortable when being picked up, but is more than happy to come to you, especially for pets,” and has a “chill” attitude, the shelter reported.
She is in cat room kennel No. 32, ID No. LCAC-A-3887.
Male domestic medium hair cat
This 2-year-old male domestic medium hair cat has a gray coat with white markings.
Staff said he is a sweet and talkative fellow who would be a great couch buddy.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-3828.
‘Willow’
“Willow” is a female domestic shorthair cat with a gray and white coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 47, ID No. LCAC-A-3762.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This 4-month-old male domestic shorthair kitten has an all-black coat.
Shelter staff said he is a unique kitten, who is very sweet and playful despite having a limb deformity.
“He can run around and play with all the other kittens and he loves toys and adventure. He will need to be indoor only so he can live his life worry free,” the shelter reported.
He is in cat room kennel No. 62a, ID No. LCAC-A-3877.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This 4-month-old male domestic shorthair kitten has a white coat with gray markings and blue eyes.
He is a very sweet and curious kitten who likes to run around the room and find all of the hidden toys.
He is in cat room kennel No. 62b, ID No. LCAC-A-3879.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This 3-month-old female domestic shorthair kitten has a white coat with gray markings and blue eyes.
She is reported to be very interested in toys and exploring. “She loves to show off her beautiful coat and eyes, as well as her awesome purring skills,” shelter staff said.
She is in cat room kennel No. 78a, ID No. LCAC-A-3888.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This 3-month-old female domestic shorthair kitten has a white coat with gray markings and blue eyes.
“This little kitten is shy at first, but does warm up and enjoys chin scratches. She enjoys watching the action from a nice comfy chair instead of being right in the middle of it,” shelter staff said.
She is in cat room kennel No. 78b, ID No. LCAC-A-3890.
Female domestic medium hair kitten
This 3-month-old female domestic medium hair kitten has a white coat with gray markings and blue eyes.
“She is sweet and quiet. She enjoys toys and gentle pets as well as curling up on a fluffy bed,” shelter staff said.
She is in cat room kennel No. 78c, ID No. LCAC-A-3889.
Domestic shorthair kitten
This handsome male domestic shorthair kitten is waiting to meet his new family.
He has an all-black coat.
He is reported to be mellow, with a gentle personality.
He is in cat room kennel No. 84c, ID No. LCAC-A-3616.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This female domestic shorthair kitten has a gray coat with white markings.
Shelter staff said she came to them with an injury to one of her eyes and needed to have the eye removed, but that has only made her more eager for head bonks.
“She has the cutest little meow and is a running shelter champion for the ‘best biscuit maker,’” the staff said.
She would be best as an indoor-only cat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 107, ID No. LCAC-A-3842.
‘Olive’
“Olive” is a female domestic medium hair kitten with a black coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. A117, ID No. LCAC-A-3742.
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