The Occasional Perspective - 10/10/24
Opinions and Reflections
First, My Apologies – Over the last decade-plus that I’ve been writing The Fickenscher Files the approach has been to remain apolitical. However, the recent explosion of misinformation coming from all sides – not just politicians – has gotten me agitated, especially as it relates to the health of people, our nation, and the world. So, bear with me…
The Health Of The World And Weather Extremes – If you’ve been listening to the news, you most likely can’t help wondering about the extreme weather hitting Florida. However, that’s not the only area of concern. Some significant weather events in the last 10 years include:
- 2023: A heat wave swept the Midwest and Southwest of the United States with at least $1.2 trillion in damages from 173 events
- 2014–2023: The warmest decade on record throughout the world, with 9 of 10 warmest years ever recorded during this period plus storms like Hurricane Dorian that hit the Southeast US coastline (2019), the flash floods, and extreme rainfall in December (2018), Hurricane Nate (2017), and the list goes on…
- A North American heat wave killed at least 225 people and brought extreme heat to most of the United States and Canada.
And now, Hurricanes Helene and Milton are following the same path with destruction upon destruction. Next, we’ll probably experience Hurricane Agonia – an extraction from the Greek reference for a difficult struggle and the associated pain that accompanies the struggle – a fitting name for an upcoming storm!
But, the question is: When are we going to do something about it? It was very disturbing for me to learn that the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Senate Budget Committee jointly investigated Big Oil, issuing a report in September 2021. The report is disturbing at best. Here’s an excerpt:
“Our investigation revealed how Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, API, and the Chamber worked in concert to mislead the public, policymakers, and investors with public promises to reduce emissions and meaningfully contribute to the transition away from oil and gas, while privately seeking to lock in continued fossil fuel production for decades into the future…The investigation also demonstrated that the fossil fuel industry continues to knowingly obfuscate the dangers of natural gas, which they have billed as a clean and green fuel. This evidence, combined with the entities’ failure to comply fully with validly issued congressional subpoenas, suggests that further investigation by the executive branch is warranted.”
“Our investigation into the fossil fuel industry calls to mind the historic congressional investigation into deceptive practices of the tobacco industry and its trade associations, which led to investigations and litigation by several state attorneys general and the Department of Justice (DOJ)…is well situated to pursue further investigation and take any appropriate legal action, as it has in similar cases involving the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries.”
Health is both personal and global. The information I share is primarily focused on the personal side. However, if we are all truly concerned about the “health of the people” a natural concern should also concern the state of the world we live in! The health of the world will not subside as an important attention getting noticed on all of the news outlets because there is no cycle where it ends – like the upcoming election. Rather, the problem is only getting worse. Perhaps we in medicine should start training “Globalogists” to focus on the issue of global warming and its effect on the environment. Just a thought…
Political Misinformation – People are suffering, homes are destroyed, displacement is rampant, and – on top of all that – we have irresponsible and reprehensible disinformation being spread indiscriminately on the airwaves by certain individuals. Examples include accusations that funds are being taken from FEMA to support immigrants coming into the country to “vote” for candidates (Democrats, of course). The accusations are categorically incorrect and, in fact, dangerous. Anyone can fact-check the real information at the FEMA website, a responsible governmental agency. It’s disturbing at best that such disinformation would be spread in an effort to grasp power! Our political discourse has fallen into the gutter from my perspective. Let’s get back to arguing about the direction for the country and the world, the policy ideas and disagreements rather than gutter discussions that take us nowhere.
