Upside, downside

I was pleasantly surprised when driving on 13th Street between 13th Avenue and 5th Avenue. Gone are the innumerable orange cones blocking two lanes of traffic. I hope that good sense prevailed and that these lanes are open to vehicular traffic once again.

I am sure many will recall that some years ago, the 13th Street viaduct was widened from four lanes to six lanes. This was a major undertaking at considerable expense as the bridge had to be widened. 13th Street is a heavily travelled road and closing two lanes to cars and trucks in order to provide a pedestrian space was an utterly absurd idea, one that I hope has been relegated to the dust bin.

On a sad note, the Planning Department of the Columbus Consolidated government has effectively ruined Linwood Boulevard between 10th Avenue and 5th Avenue. Traffic lanes have been narrowed significantly and a wide pedestrian walk has been created for the hundreds of people expected to walk down Linwood Boulevard. It looks like a barren, tasteless space created by a uninspired bureaucrat. Only in Columbus!

Short-sighted

The current occupant of the White House campaigned on the economy and getting more people to work in good jobs. The route to this objective has been laid out by dropping out of the Paris climate agreement. This move will reinforce the level of alienation that President Trump has cultivated so successfully in his brief term in office.

More importantly, this businessman appears to have ignored the projected $6 trillion market for clean energy equipment that will now be ceded to China.

Icehouse effect

Solar activity is predicted to drop by 60 percent in 2030, according to Valentina Zharkova of the Royal Astronomical Society, announced last week. This future predicted activity of the sun is compared to the Maunder Minimum which was a period when the sun entered a very inactive period, producing fewer sunspots than usual. This minimum happened at the same time weather conditions in Northern America and Europe were very icy and cold and known as the "little ice age."

The previous Maunder Minimum happened in the 17th century and lasted between 50 and 60 years. The River Thames froze over and the ice was so thick that people could walk across from one side to the other.

Zharkova compared the Maunder Minimum with the one her team predicted to occur in about 15 years, which will be shorter than the one in the 17th century, only lasting a maximum of three solar cycles or around 30 years. It will be cold but not quite like an ice age.

A step backward

Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (now with 196 nations on board) is a perverse version of “American exceptionalism.” That we are aligning ourselves with Nicaragua and Syria is not true. Nicaragua did not sign the agreement largely because they feel the agreement is not an adequate solution to global warming. Syria is not involved because of civil war and travel sanctions imposed on its leaders. However, the U.S., a primary architect of the agreement, withdrew for largely political reasons. Yes, we are exceptional, i.e., in a category unto ourselves.

The alleged net loss of U.S. jobs caused by the Paris Agreement is fictional. Of course, jobs in fossil fuels will probably decline; however, that will happen anyway, due to economics — and we should help those impacted. Renewable energy resources, especially solar and wind, have become cost competitive when compared with fossil fuels. Huge numbers of new jobs will result, if we can avoid more unwise political decisions. Witness the 1,100-acre solar farm now being constructed in Alabama’s Chambers County, largely at the behest of Walmart, which “has a goal to be supplied by 100% renewable energy.” (Recall that retired Walmart CEO Rob Walton, founder Sam Walton’s son, is a leader in the Climate Leadership Council, an organization of well-known Republicans who are concerned about the present human caused climate change.)

Renewable energy is here and growing. Alabama and the U.S. should aggressively join in.

Eyes on the road

Warmer weather, vacations, graduations and other celebrations bring more drivers — and the potential for more auto accidents — during the summer months. Auto accidents have increased 14 percent over the past two years—the biggest increase in more than 50 years.

Distracted driving is thought to be one of the leading causes for the increase in auto accidents nationwide, and summertime activities could bring even more distracted drivers to the roads. Drivers aren’t just talking and texting, either. Increasingly, drivers are surfing the web, engaging on social media and using apps.

More pedestrians and bicyclists also are on the roads in the summer, and they too are increasingly distracted by smartphones, putting everyone on the road in greater danger.

While safety is always the first concern, auto accident trends also could be hitting consumers’ pocketbooks by putting upward pressure on insurance costs. Raising awareness about the continued threat of distracted driving can help make our roads safer and keep costs down for consumers. Let’s all remember to put our phones down and make an extra effort to drive responsibly this summer.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Upside, downside."