2018 Life Logs, Day 285—Energy and Geopolitics
Date: Friday, October 12, 2018
Weather: Heavy Rain AM, Cloudy to Clearing PM; High 64, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Tonight was the second Falmouth Forum of 2018-2019 season. Each month the Forum presents a speaker sponsored by the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole and the general public is invited to attend. In addition to the general public, the audience is filled with scientists from the Woods Hole community making the Q&A most interesting. Tonight’s topic was Energy and Geopolitics presented by Ambassador Richard Morningstar. I attended along with Terry and Olivia White. Ambassador Morningstar is not a scientist. He is a lawyer that has served in various government positions, the last being as Ambassador to Azerbaijan from 2012 to 2014. He was also the Ambassador to the European Union during the Clinton administration. Tonight’s presentation included his reflections on the various ways he has seen geographic location affect politics and the way both affect the decisions various governments make on energy policies. And, of course, those decisions guide the way we are facing climate change. I was most interested in the various ways the world’s largest energy companies are, in some cases, leading the way, in the absence of leadership by governments. Unfortunately, this sounds to me like the blind leading the blind.
I spent the very rainy morning out running around. I had an early morning routine mammogram, went to the grocery store, and then came home and did some cooking. Focusing on food led me to watch a few videos from a digital docu-series on the Healing Power of Food. And that led to more food preparation. In between cooking and watching the videos, I texted back and forth with Heather whose flight from Providence, RI to Washington, DC was delayed due to weather. She arrived in a sunny DC this afternoon. She is attending a conference for science writers and will be home on Monday, so Jed is a single parent this weekend. I’ll see him at Ollie’s soccer game tomorrow afternoon and see what I can do to help out. The weather here improved this afternoon, but when I walked out the door this evening to go to Woods Hole, I had to come right back in and grab a polar fleece jacket. I was wearing a light-weight sweater, but even though the temperature was in the 50’s, but it felt really chilly to me. Fall is finally really here.
