Global Warming is cumulative. What is cumulative is CO2 and other emissions, which surround the planet Earth and insulates it and holds in the heat. Because there is an excess of yearly emissions every year the Earth has more insulation and keeps getting warmer. And because of this the hurricanes become more frequent, more damaging, and more costly to clean up. Hurricane Dorian wiped out the Bahamas and Hurricane Maria nearly did that to Puerto Rico.

At Madrid the climate change scientists said that the growth of the CO2 and other emissions was accelerating and by the year 2040 there would be a Climate Change Catastrophe.

At the Paris Accords, which United States President Barack Obama helped to set up, 190 member countries would set goals to reduce their emissions. The United States, to achieve its goals, has been replacing coal and oil fired electrical producing power plants with renewables such as solar and wind turbines, plus with low cost and cleaner natural gas.

A key producer of emissions is the exhaust from cars. Obama got a lot states, including California, to get car companies to work to reduce the weight of their cars and thus the amount of gas the cars would need and lessen the exhaust emissions coming from these cars.

Madrid was held to again get countries to set goals and find out if some, or all, had been working to achieve them. Some had done nothing since Paris while many European countries had as had counties in North America, including America, despite the efforts of Donald Trump. He opposes reducing the weight of cars and one of the first products he put tariffs on were solar panels from China. China is the largest manufacturer of solar panels. Trump is promoting coal which was and is the largest producer of emissions.

New York State has a lot of upstate wind farms and solar arrays throughout the state. Central Hudson is promoting the arrays on Facebook, with the promise that if you convert to solar your electric bill will be reduced by 10 percent. Call Central Hudson, 452-2000.

New York and most states are promoting renewables. Texas is number one with wind turbines; California is number one in solar. New York State is in the top 10 states in solar and 14th in wind.

But a lot of the nations of the world, including China, Australia, Brazil, and India could be doing a lot more. For China, India, and Australia, coal is the culprit.

If nothing is done with these bad actors the Climate Change Catastrophe should be in our plans. Since we are the world’s number one emitter, likely because of our cars, we need to do more also. Trump is doing something to guarantee the Climate Change Catastrophe years before 2040. It is his methane give away, a gift, to the oil and gas business. Its emissions are 80 times that of CO2, and the oil and gas companies are wildly blowing them into the atmosphere.

We could see their power of Trump’s give away in the 2020 hurricane season if it filled with record breaking storms. The winds of Dorian got up to 188 mph while destroying the Bahamas. When you learn that a hurricane hit Miami with 198 mph winds you will know that it is believable, and then when its FEMA bill is $125 billion and it will take years for Miami to recover, it will hit home what is happening.

The Climate Change Catastrophe of our future will have at same time record hurricanes, temperatures, floods, droughts and fires. We need a Global Warming Presidential Change as soon as possible or we may be bankrupt as a nation.

2018 numbers say it’s better in Ulster
The Bureau of Economic Analysis just released the county and state per capita incomes for 2018 and they show we got a bump in Ulster County. Per capita income of Ulster is $50,462, Orange, $51,848. and Dutchess $56,305. National average was $54,446, and the state average, $68,668. In 2017 it was $48,811 for Ulster, Orange, $50,113, and Dutchess. $54,093

The national average was $51,640 and the state average was $64,500. A surprise is that Ulster County has a higher per capita income than Queens ($49,777).

In 2018 San Francisco County with a per capita income of $133,696 is the 4th wealthiest in the USA, 3rd highest is Marin County, California, $134,247. 2nd is Manhattan, $193,910, and first with a population of 23,081 is Teton County, Wyoming (Jackson Hole) with a per capita income of $251,728. Silicon Valley borders San Francisco and it and New York City are the high tech capitals of the United States. Quietly Amazon is now building a large high tech facility in New York City, as are Google and Facebook. A sleeper high tech location is Albany with RPI, Union, SUNY Albany and the College of Nanotechnology.

Are female politicians under attack?
A lot of women are getting elected to such positions as mayor, county executive, and even governor. Almost all are Democrats and they find themselves under constant attack.

Same thing happened in liberal New Paltz when it elected Democrat Susan Zimet as its town supervisor. She was the best organized town supervisor I have ever observed. Her agenda for a town board meeting was a series of motions and discussions. The town was on the move, and you would have thought Sue Zimet would have it easy, but no. She was under constant attack. And it was by Democrats.

She escaped as Governor Andrew Cuomo was looking for a person with successful executive experience. I do not think Susan Zimet will ever serve as the town supervisor again.

Yang of New Paltz running for President
Democrat Presidential candidate Andrew Yang lives in New Paltz and he and his family are active members of the Reformed Church on Huguenot Street in the Village of New Paltz. The last presidential candidate before Yang from the Hudson Valley was Franklin Roosevelt. An Episcopalian, at one time Roosevelt attended church in Hyde Park. Another difference from Yang is FDR’s wife, Eleanor, was the first lady of the world.

Highland is the home of the Roosevelt Ramp.

Andrew Yang has raised more than $10 million for his candidacy, which is more than Roosevelt ever raised.

We need an infrastructure plan
Three years ago Donald Trump said he was going to have the greatest infrastructure plan of all time. I was excited. I knew that L. Todd Diorio of Laborers Local 17 of Newburgh could hire a lot of kids, just as apprentices, and get them off to a good start in their life. Every year Todd would tell me the names of Marlboro High School graduates who would be starting at the Local. It was a wonderful story. So positive. Except after one year President Trump had not delivered an infrastructure budget, nor after year two, and now not after year three.

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer met with him. He would have an infrastructure budget. And then he skipped out of doing it.

On C-Span governors and state representatives more than anything talk about infrastructure. They have crumbling roads and bridges. So does New York State. I have learned when driving on the Thruway, when beneath a bridge to look up and see the rust. Most of these bridges are almost 70 years old. One of the answers to replacing them is in Washington, D.C. or Florida.

We are trapped. Our congressman are asked about health care costs and infrastructure all the time. Nancy Pelosi has moved on both of them, but where is Trump? If you are riding on one of those bridges over the Thruway and it collapses, do you want a lying excuse from Washington, D.C.?