For this week's consideration: the Optimist; whither coal?; gerrymandering; North Korea; the "war cabinet;" oil and climate change; census; teacher pay; ICE and kids;"free range" kids; gas mileage.

The Optimist, Easter Sunday and April Fools Day. More about Oliver and Linda Brown. Spring break for the "not so wealthy." Spring break time and many college students all over the US are working, not cavorting on the beaches. Year 'round work is a necessity for many students.

Coal -- miners and executives. In this High County News article, Gabriel Hunt, a fourth generation  miner turned aspiring artist, discusses what lies ahead for everyone associated with a shrinking. 19th century industry. "[T]he notion that we should tolerate and use taxpayer dollars to attempt to sustain a 19th century industry is a slap in the face to coal miners and communities here in Carbon County [UT] and beyond. We no longer need coal. What we do need is real economic prosperity." Prosperity that could be realized with UT's sunshine, geothermal sources, and wind. Link to the Governor's Office of Energy Development.
     UT legislators are preparing to sue CA on the grounds that CA's climate laws are unfair to coal producers. Hunt maintains this legal maneuvering amounts to little more than corporate welfare and "ignores the reality underlying our economic plight. The fact is, coal can no longer compete." With his family's long experience in mining, Hunt has seen everything about the coal industry deteriorate -- safety, pollution, environmental protection, drug abuse....
     Of course, President Trump, to much pep rally, campaign cheering, has vowed to make coal viable again. Alas, even the coal industry executives are investing, not in improvements in coal mining, but in alternative energy sources. "In a stunning rebuke in January, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected a proposal to subsidize electric utilities that use coal as unjust and unreasonable."

Gerrymandering, MD-style. Last week it was PA, this week MD, as the Supreme Court accepted a case involving that state's 2011 redistricting process. The former Democratic governor, Martin O'Malley unabashedly admitted it was a partisan exercise meant to increase the Democratic congressional majority from 6-2 to 7-1. Last Tuesday, the Supremes heard a case from WI involving purported political gerrymandering. After the upcoming 2020 census, states will do their required redistricting, so stay tuned.
     In last Thursday's column, E.J. Dionne allows as how MD's action amounts to outright, unadulterated cheating by the dominant political party.

Kim Jong Un. The huge, armored green train was hard to miss, as were the attendant armored motorcades in Beijing. Even in closely watched censored China, cell phone pictures sprouted quickly and speculation flowered. Only after North Korea's leader was back across the border was the nearly-secret visit officially announced. Given President Trump's recent pronouncements, the Chinese -- North Korean relationship is increasingly important and, despite the White House denials, complicates any North Korean -- US meeting.
    Columnist David Ignatius points out "...make no mistake: It is the two Koreas that are driving the action, forcing their superpower allies to respond." We well know how much President Trump dislikes not being in the driver's seat, or at least riding "shotgun." Hopefully, before the talks begin he will have a secretary of state and national security adviser on board.

David Ignatius and Trudy Rubin on John Bolton. Last week's blog noted George Will's decidedly worried thoughts on President Trump's newly designated national security adviser, who needs no senate confirmation. (Note: The former adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, required Senate confirmation due to his military rank.)
     This week, columnists Trudy Rubin (Philadelphia Inquirer) and the Washington Post's  David Ignatius weigh in. An important question: in advising the president, will Bolton be an "honest broker" or "provocateur, bureaucratic infighter and permanent enfant terrible." A bellicose president pared with a bellicose adviser?  Ignatius: "That scares people, at home and abroad....Bolton’s test as national security adviser is that he will now be the person responsible for overseeing a process he instinctively mistrusts." Rubin: "[T]he scariest thing about Bolton is this: His deep belief in military action will strengthen the president’s most macho instincts.
     A host of commentators, left and right, and of all stripes in both groups have noted that Trump tends to act on instinct and favors, in effect, "Yes" people.      Rubin: "Standing alone in the breach is Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, no wimp on using force, but a believer in trying all other options first. But Mattis is now bereft of cabinet allies...We are about to see the real Donald Trump, unchained, in the foreign-policy arena..."

Oil and climate change. In federal district court, San Francisco and Oakland are asking that 5 major oil companies be held "accountable for local consequences of climate change."Arguments in a nut shell:
     Plaintiffs. “[These companies] engaged in large-scale, sophisticated advertising and public relations campaigns to promote pervasive fossil fuel usage and to portray fossil fuels as environmentally responsible and essential to human well-being.”
     Defendants. "[I]t’s nearly impossible to tie specific climate impacts like sea level rise to specific causes, such as the production or burning of Chevron oil."
    Chevron argued its case and the judge instructed the other 4 companies to file documents, saying, “You can’t get away with sitting here in silence,” Other civil suits akin to this one have been dismissed, but some are still pending. Get in line!

Census, 2020. Sometimes it only takes one simple question to gum up the works. The Trump administration wants to add a question to the upcoming census, one which amounts to "Are you a US citizen?" which is supposedly included to better enforce the Voting Rights Act. The census is meant to count the entire population, not just citizens. But, if you an undocumented resident or a DACCA recipient and distrust the government, you may just "forget" and try skip the entire process, though you are legally required to fill out the forms you receive.
     There is the Census and the American Community Survey. Here is a link explaining the differences.

KY and OK teachers, following example of their WV counterparts, have closed down their state's public schools over changes to their pension system made by the KY legislature. The changes would have "worked against" new teachers. It is increasingly obvious that US students are falling further and further behind those of other nations. Education Secretary Voss and her charter school mentalit, not withstanding, there is no substitute for better and better-paid teachers. Link to story of similar teacher concerns in OK.

ICE and kids. Op ed writer, Jack Markell asks, "Do we really want 16 million children without parents?" (Markell, D, DE and former governor, 2009-2017) "The Trump administration is preparing to threaten the well-being of 16 million U.S. citizens who live with their immigrant parents...[A] series of new proposals...could make it more difficult for parents to stay in the United States legally — and, even if they remained here, would reduce the likelihood that those parents would avail themselves of the services designed to keep their children healthy." Is this what America has become?

Free range eggs -- kids, too? Should your child be supervised by an adult 24/7? Not in UT, which recently passed a so called "free range" kid law that is being much debated across the country; this vs. the now more common "helicopter parent." Remember the wonderful coming of age film "Sand Lot?" That unsupervised, neighborhood "we're here to have fun baseball team?" With James Earl Jones as the unknown baseball legend whose back yard harbored that huge, slobbering dog that "collected" the kids' over the fence foul balls? Has UT saved sandlot sports?

EPA and auto pollution. Uncontested facts: more people, more cars, more miles driven, more auto emissions, more pollution. Yet, the "Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced Monday that he would revoke Obama-era standards requiring cars and light trucks sold in the United States to average more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025..." Since Administrator Pruitt does not believe earth's climate is changing or, at least if it is, human-kind plays no part, what is the harm of some more auto emissions?
     A national dust up is assuredly in the making; this is federalism at work. "California has authority under the Clean Air Act to set its own emissions limits, and it has threatened to sue if its waiver is revoked and it is blocked from imposing stricter targets. Such a fight has broad implications, because 12 other states, representing more than a third of the country’s auto market, follow California’s standards." 

Thank you for reading.