Shifting Public Views and Actions on Climate Change

Submitted to the Piney Woods Journal as the first of a three-part series on climate change

Louisiana residents have a stronger stake in decisions and actions taken on many complex environmental and energy issues than most Americans. Many of us have jobs and incomes based on our abundant energy and environmental resources in this state.  We also spend quality time in our great outdoors enjoying a diversity of recreational activities. There are many outdoor, nature and wildlife interests that Louisiana residents care about and support.  A simple review of our state specialty license plates indicate the following interests: America’s Wetlands, Animal Friendly, Coastal Conservation, Delta Wildfowl, Ducks Unlimited, Endangered Species, Environmental Education, Honey Bees, LA Black Bear, LA Largemouth Bass, Protect Our Forest, Protect Wild Dolphins, Quail Forever, Whitetail Deer, and Wild Turkey Federation.  Other plates, such as 4H, LA Agriculture, Agricultural Education, LA Energy State, and LA Seafood, remind us of interconnections and dependencies in our state’s natural resources. 

Few of us have the scientific backgrounds or spend that much time trying to digest the many recent reports associated with issues of climate change.  Much of this discussion about what needs to be done is highly charged, and as polarizing or divisive as any other public policy issue.  Public education, so important for voting and policy decisions, though, demands at least a basic level of citizen knowledge on this and other key issues, especially as these concerns impact our own nation and state.

Depending on your background and reading or viewing preferences, you probably already have some basic views concerning climate change.  Increasingly, we see the terms “climate crisis, emergency, or chaos.” You might even be a New Green Deal advocate or a climate change denier.   Many Americans have been aware of the issue of climate change or global warming for decades, and have still not formed definitive conclusions concerning the degree of peril or more appropriate remedies involved.  I remember writing a short chapter for an academic book about 15 years ago on this issue, and one concern then was for “intergenerational equity.”  Were we confronting the issue honestly and ethically then or “kicking the can down the road” for our children and grandchildren to confront and suffer?    

There were reasons why at least some scientists and politicians several decades ago disputed and denied global warming due to intensifying greenhouse gases.  Some argued against existing evidence of climate change, while others claimed that human activities did not have a significant role in causing these changes or we would not be capable of curtailing these changes.  There were also those who suggested delaying action on this challenge because technologies of the future would be developed and applied before the more adverse climate changes occurred and heavily affected normal human lives.  Actual public and private sector responses to the threat of adverse climate changes in the past two decades have been relatively limited, partially because it appeared to many that significant costs or investments would be needed and the price of inaction seemed still decades away.  Political gridlock, too, played a role in our inability to negotiate a few practical responses to growing evidence of climate change.

Recent polls regarding climate change show most Americans now view climate change as a serious, or our most critical, threat and one that requires urgent responses.  Beyond increasing public support for initiatives to combat climate change, scientific and technological studies have become focused much more on approaches that greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  One example is Project Drawdown.  This nonprofit, global organization of scholars, scientists, and entrepreneurs founded in 2014 has been mapping, measuring, modeling, and proposing a large number of substantive solutions to reaching zero emission levels.  They and others are proposing methods that apparently produce much greater paybacks than their investment costs.   

Many Republicans and conservatives now strongly support federal investments in such carbon-capture technologies and low- and zero-emission resources.  Their Green “Real” Deal proposal, introduced by conservative Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz in April, does not set specific goals or timelines though for clean energy generation, unlike Green New Deal proposals. Moderate Democrats unveiled in July an alternative decarbonization plan than those proposed by the Republicans or by progressive Democrats.  The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s goal was net-zero emissions across the United States economy by 2050. Hearings on particular approaches and technologies to reach this goal (called 100by 50) are beginning. 

We can expect hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars in investments to be spent over the next decade or so in green research and green manufacturing regardless of the parties controlling the legislative or executive branches. Part of this intended investment is simple recognition that many of our major trade partners and technology competitors are well ahead of us, having signed on before to environmental agreements and protocols and then undertaking work on many fronts.  The UK is just one nation with ambitious plans to cut greenhouse gas emission, beyond its already world-leading Climate Change Act.   

State and local legislation and actual initiatives in the USA are occurring sooner and more significantly in the Northeast and West Coast and in larger metropolitan areas. However, the impact of both climate change and diverse efforts to combat it will likely be greater on states in the Midwest and Deep South with dependence on traditional agricultural, mining, energy, and natural resources.   While states like Louisiana are not expected to assume high-profile or early leadership roles in greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts, our future economic and environmental livelihood will depend upon how prepared and proactive or adaptive we can be in confronting these challenges. 

What are the sectors in our state economy that will be affected more by climate change and by efforts to combat these more drastic and dangerous impacts in the next few decades?  What threats and opportunities seem to exist for those in these industries and for others in this state?  You can bet that strategic planners in many corporations and in many state governments have been and are currently focusing on these concerns.  In my next PWJ article, I will outline more obvious areas of necessary change and responses to climate change in Louisiana. 

More Realistic Retirement Planning

Submitted to the Piney Woods Journal in 2019

My articles over the past four years for this journal have been on outdoors and environmental issues, but my academic and consulting background has actually been in the field of management and strategic planning.  A very few of you may recall a series of 24 weekly articles that I wrote for the Winnfield Enterprise back in 2012 and 2013 on strategic approaches for making important life decisions. 

A critical set of life decisions that the fortunate of us get to make involves the transition from a job or career into what used to be considered as our “retirement years.”  Recent discussions on retirement planning definitely seem more open-ended and complex than a generation or two ago.  Most of this discussion or advice still tends to focus on key financial aspects of planning for retirement.  Often this advice has direct or indirect sales intent to guide listeners into certain investment alternatives.  Certain important retirement concerns appear rarely and poorly explored, particularly if these concerns don’t seem related directly to financial decisions.  I’ll try to describe a few significant planning issues from the perspective of someone who has personally confronted many retirement-related questions.

The first step in any strategic plan is usually a careful assessment of one’s true desires, passions, or interests, as well as one’s talents, skills, and weaknesses.  Unfortunately, this personal assessment associated with our future retirement can yield some unreliable information.  Some huge mental and emotional impacts of retirement often cannot be readily anticipated and meaningfully applied for long-term planning purposes.   No matter the quantity or quality of our thoughts given to retirement beforehand, actually beginning the shift away from a long-term job or career can drastically change our basic planning assumptions.  This shift may even influence our own self-conception as a person.  We can fail to realize how much our work and career conditioning govern our assumptions about what we might need or want in retirement years.  A new freedom for some of us to reset our own goals and activities for retirement can be exciting and enriching, while for others this can be disorienting and confusing.  Prior to my father’s retirement as a paper mill electrician at age 62, he purchased a new boat and loads of fishing equipment anticipating that he would spend much more time on this hobby.  Yet he actually spent very little time boating and fishing in retirement, even compared to earlier.  His post-retirement attitudes and concerns seemed to crowd out his interest in boating and fishing then.  

We also should probably expect to encounter some shifting perspectives about marriage or relationship roles, as well as the nature of some of our personal friendships.  These shifting relationship viewpoints can be really magnified when significant others are also facing retirement changes.  Given some unknown and unanticipated shifts in personal and relationship interests that will likely occur with actual retirement doesn’t mean retirement planning beforehand, or later, has to be difficult or impossible.  It does suggest the need for “contingency” planning, more flexibility in making planning assumptions, and a willingness to return to the “drawing board” when health, relationship, or other major life changes are thrust upon us.

Many high-achievers suffer somewhat in their later life as they suspect or encounter gradual erosion of some of their earlier and very rewarding talents and abilities.  Arthur C. Brooks in a recent Atlantic magazine article explores some of these mental and emotional challenges that many confront.  He also discusses potential readjustments. Brooks claims that “As we grow older, we shouldn’t acquire more, but rather strip things away to find our true selves.”  We need to assess and selectively downsize from time to time our set of possessions, responsibilities and relationships trying to refine these and possibly find more sustaining ones.

Retirement can mean that our previous evaluations of our work-related activities and our non-work, recreational or leisure activities shift or blur.  We should try to understand better what have been the more fulfilling and satisfying, if somewhat hidden, attributes of our existing jobs or careers.  Can some of these more positive job-related characteristics be found also in certain volunteer, part-time or other work activities upon formal retirement?   Reading, research and perhaps education or training programs could suggest different and potentially exciting types of retirement pursuits.  Just because we spend much of our lives on one or a few chosen jobs or careers doesn’t mean we are restricted to finding fulfillment in only these pursuits.  Some of these discovered activities might even give us a chance to continue or increase our income or consumption levels instead of surviving on and depleting our savings.    

We should understand, and possibly take advantage, of an employer’s policies and options for work separation.  These work separation options might be offered and triggered at some suggested retirement age for employees.  In some cases, valued employees might be able to negotiate their own “leave taking” preferences, even if work separation options are not formally described or offered.  The option of “cold turkey” retirement might suit some, while others can find that working half- or part-time for months or years can allow them to more slowly and thoughtfully assess some of their retirement options.  I’ve known of a few employees who were considered of so much value to their employers that they were able to negotiate part-time jobs there well into their eighties.

There are many important retirement-related decisions to be made.  Health care choices that were previously associated with employer-employee benefits will likely need at least some adjustments and supplements.  Locational and housing needs are examples of other major concerns that demand thinking and coordination with other decisions. 

Retirement can offer extra time and an opportunity to develop healthier habits and routines that were neglected for decades in the hustle-bustle of demanding work-related responsibilities.  When we were younger and probably had fewer health challenges, we may have largely overlooked and not really felt the effect of poor dietary and fitness habits.  As we age, though, the quality of our lives seems more directly impacted by the health-related choices that we are making. We can be more strategic and make better lifestyle decisions even well into our later retirement years.

Natchez and Nearby Outdoor Attractions

Submitted to the Piney Woods Journal in 2019

Most of us can hardly afford to travel to fish for lake trout in northern Canada or jet to ecotourism destinations in Southeast Asia. Our more realistic ambitions are likely to be weekend adventures much closer to home.  I've described in a few past journal issues how cities such as Lake Charles, Natchitoches, and Alexandria offer weekend destinations and bases for many nearby outdoor and recreational attractions. Natchez also seems an ideal place for weekends and short vacations, and I recently was able to discover and rediscover some of the many outdoor treasures of this Miss-Lou area.

For those relatively unaware with Natchez-area destinations, the Natchez Visitor Reception Center just off Highway 84 upon crossing the big bridge provides a whole lot of useful information. The center has impressive visual displays and a helpful staff who can answer questions and direct visitors to their specific interests, whether these include blues music venues, historic plantation homes, or nearby Civil War battle sites. My great-grandfather spent parts of 1864 and 1865 as a doctor treating wounded soldiers at the Union encampment north of the city, and I was curious about where that particular location was. A staff member explained that the Union forces were at Fort McPherson and nearby was the Marine Hospital. Both are long gone now, but I was able to visit this site on the bluff of the river at the Natchez City Cemetery.

The Mississippi River Bridge from Vidalia Landing with the Bluffs of Natchez beyond the bridge

The Natchez National Historic Park is just north of the visitor reception center and includes Fort Rosalie, several historic homes, and various short trails. Fort Rosalie was the state's first European settlement established in 1716. I hiked the nature trail in the historic area from its tall bluff all of the way down to Natchez Under-the-Hill, the shops along Silver Street, and the Magnolia Bluffs Casino at river level. The short, paved trail back up Rob Hill from the casino would be a challenge for some to walk though due to its slope.

Although one could spend many days and not begin to visit the majority of tourist attractions in the historic and downtown parts of Natchez, I quickly focused on the many outdoor and recreational opportunities in the area.  I was already familiar with several of the oxbow lakes, such as Bruin and St. John.  A college friend and I spent many weekends at his parent's camp on Lake Bruin. I had also fished Lake Larto, southwest of Natchez and south of Jonesville as a child with my father and brother.  My plans were to explore a few other recommended sites in that area.

One obvious stop for me was Natchez State Park, about 15 miles north of the city.  The park claims the state record for large-mouth bass.  There are plenty of sites for RV camping as well as some primitive camping spots there.  It’s a beautiful park where I would have spent much more time, but the high flood waters this spring prevented my trying some of the biking and hiking trails.  The same problem was one that I encountered in visiting two area refuges on the Louisiana side of the river.  It was a first time for me at Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge, west of Ferriday, and at Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge, east of Jena, but high water conditions there limited the time that I could actually explore trails and parts of these refuges. 

Perhaps I should have instead tried to visit a couple of acclaimed sites in Mississippi such as Homochitto National Forest to the east of Natchez for its challenging bike trails, or even St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge, only 10-15 miles south of the city.  I imagine that the scenery there would have been as green and lush as the sites that I did visit, particularly with the many magnolias in full bloom in mid-May.  Springtime in river country also means mosquitoes though, and I’ve seldom, if ever, encountered more need for mosquito repellent than at the two wildlife refuges.

Other appealing outdoor sites in the area that I couldn’t fit into my schedule this time were the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians and the Emerald Mound, home for the earlier Plaquemine culture and the second-largest Pre-Columbian earthwork site in this country.  For those who might like to book fishing and hunting excursions or biking and kayaking/canoeing tours around Natchez, several rental and touring companies in Natchez can be contacted. A tour can also be scheduled of Frogmore Cotton Plantation and Gins, located just west of Ferriday.  The story is told there of planters and their slaves in Miss-Lou from early settlers, to thriving cotton plantations before the Civil War, and to the struggle afterward for new ways of life for these planters and slaves.

There are other destination cities in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas that I want to visit again and try to describe their many outdoor and recreational opportunities for future PWJ issues.  Right now, my plans have Hot Springs at the top of my list, but I’m certainly willing to entertain other possibilities.  You can contact me at steve-payne1@live.com for comments about my previous articles or suggestions for future ones.