One of the hallmarks of legacy media on any level is the desire to move up in the ranks to the next gig with bigger exposure. Very few, if any, media people are content to remain where they are. Ambition, in and of itself, is not a bad thing.
The desire to improve oneself and one’s lot in life is arguably the hallmark of a healthy society. But to advance one’s career in the media, one must show oneself to be not just willing but eager to also advance the Official Narrative. That is what leads to regional Emmys, a better reel, hopefully a job in a bigger market, or maybe, even someday, one’s own show on one of the cable news networks — or at least what’s left of them. Even then the Official Narrative must be maintained, and it helps if one believes it.
Over the weekend, the New York Times published a piece on the end of summer vacations, which was titled, “Is This the End of the Summer Vacation as We Know It?” The article claims that summer travel is at a “tipping point” due to various ecological problems. The piece cites heat maps showing record-breaking temperatures from around the U.S. and mentions a woman in Florida who could not go to the beach because the water temperature had reached 98 degrees. The piece also talks about the dangers of fires, hail storms, floods, and tornadoes. It also mentions that:
Increasingly dangerous weather now hits classic summer destinations, with conditions growing more erratic, expensive and deadly. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States has experienced four climate disasters since May, each causing over a billion dollars in damages. The National Park Service estimates that more visitors have died of heat-related causes since June than do in an average year.
It also intones:
For decades, science has confirmed that unabated climate change will cause more misery, more hardship and cost millions of lives in the years to come. We’re getting a taste of the results this summer. Our relationship to travel has reached a tipping point. What happens when we can’t just vacation through it?
Add to the list of woes the fact that, according to the article, the weather is causing people to cancel vacation plans, putting financial strains on business owners and vendors.
It certainly sounds dire. But writing for Just the News, Addison Smith references remarks by Dr. John Christy, a professor of Atmospheric Science and Director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama. Christy commented:
I see the main problems as perspective in time and space. July is always hotter than normal somewhere, so focusing on those spots misses the spatial aspect that there are other non-hotter than normal places. In terms of time, I use US stations with at least 100 years of data, so the present heat can be judged from a better perspective. When compared with other “hot” years, including the notorious 1936 heat wave, the US this year is not in record territory.
He went on to say:
If you look at decades at a time, 2013–2022 is simply average for heat waves in the US and record high temperatures. Regionally, the West has seen their [sic] highest number of heat waves and record high temperatures in that decade, but the upper Midwest and Ohio Valley have seen their record LOWEST such metrics. For the US as a whole, then, things have averaged out.
But those facts don’t get clicks, eyeballs, or the approval of the HR department at whatever outlet one wishes to apply. They don’t win Emmys, and they won’t get someone a job at CNN. And they don’t get the official stamp of approval from those in power.
Take wildfires, for example. A friend who has frequently vacationed in Greece in the past tells me that human-caused wildfires are not uncommon there, particularly during election season. Some fires are the result of lightning strikes, but many of them are the result of human activity. It may be arson, but often, the cause is stupidity. Fires can be caused by escaped or neglected campfires, fireworks, irresponsible target shooting, and even hot mufflers and brakes.
Several years ago, my neighborhood had to be evacuated due to a fire. The fire was thought to be caused by lightning but was later determined to be of human origin. The 2002 Mustang Fire, which destroyed over 20,000 acres in Northeastern Utah, was attributed to a camper trailer that lost a wheel and ignited a fire along a road. The Deseret News reported:
According to witnesses at the scene, the driver of the camper realized what had happened and pulled over to try to put out the small blaze but was reportedly ordered by Ashley National Forest Service employee David Chavez to continue to drive. The man went on dragging the broken trailer with its axle grinding the pavement and sending sparks sailing, creating new blazes.
Daggett County Sheriff Gaylen Jarvie was near Flaming Gorge Reservoir just minutes away from the rising smoke when he heard the fire call on his radio.
“When we pulled up, there was a guy pulling a little camper down the highway just shooting sparks over by Mustang on 191. We watched him ignite two more fires from the sparks shooting off,” said Jarvie. “I hollered at him to quit moving and he said, ‘Make up your mind, they told me I had to leave,’ but I said don’t move.”
Jarvie said the man told him he had stopped to try to put out the first small fire created by the sparks but that a Forest Service employee insisted he leave.
“He said he tried to explain things to him, but he wouldn’t listen,” Jarvie said, adding that he didn’t know the man but recalled he may have been from Texas. “He certainly seemed like he was telling the truth, because the driving was ruining his little camper, too, it was tearing a hole in the corner.”
A river guide with a truck full of clients who pulled up to offer manpower, water and blankets to attack the fire while it was at a stage he believed to be “controllable,” said Chavez threatened to arrest him for the offer of aid.
“It could have been taken care of if there would have been somebody there, easy. It was fairly small and the wind wasn’t blowing at the moment,” said the guide, who did not want to be identified due to possible reprisals from the Forest Service.
Yes, California has had more than its share of catastrophic fires, but it has also suffered under miserable excuses for land management policies that allowed fuels to build up for years. I myself was once taken to task by an angry Park City, Utah, resident for daring to cut down trees infested by bark beetles. The resident heard the sound of chainsaws and was greatly affronted.
Had we not removed the infested trees, the beetles would have gone on to kill most of the trees in the stand and heightened the risk of wildfire. So much for your multi-million dollar home, Buffy and Chad. Besides, it was state land, and that was my job.
Growing up in an area that at one time was heavily industrialized, I have seen the effects of strip mining and pollution. There was a pond in my town nicknamed “The Blue Lagoon” because it was so choked with chemicals that the water had turned a sickly aquamarine color, topped with white and brown foam, so humans can have a negative effect on the environment especially when they set fire to it.
But the members of the media refuse to place their breathless news stories into context, historical or otherwise, and they understand that feelings always trump facts. Along with giving someone a sense of smug self-satisfaction and the tacit right to hate their neighbor who owns a diesel pickup, feelings also keep people coming back for more.