Stating the obvious

One thing that disasters like WV's recent floods remind us of, if we need it, is that there's a role for government in our everyday life. Such as responding to disasters, promoting public safety, promoting public health, maintaining our infrastructure. All that kind of stuff. As amazing as volunteers can be, they can't do it all.

Here's a great op-ed on that theme by a friend of mine whose home was damaged when the Elk River rose. I hope that decision makers--and voters--think about things like that.

Threat assessment: doing the math

Here is another example of trying to shift the debate away from meaningful action on climate change. The author, very influential in WV, takes Secretary of State John Kerry to task for comparing the dangers of climate change to those of terrorism. Actually, as awful as terrorism is, the climate threat is much more dangerous. One estimate from 2012 suggested that around 400,000 die annually worldwide from climate change, while in 2013 the death toll from terrorism was around 18,000. More on that here.

By the way, in case you missed it, my friend Pastor Matthew J. Watts had a great op-ed in the Gazette-Mail calling for a "Marshall plan" to help poor white and black communities.