Boulder, Colorado fires/evacuations of whole towns -- coverage

[orwell]

49. In California...

...Solar + Battery backup pays for itself in around 7 years with the federal subsidies. Grid-tied solar without batteries pays for itself in less than 5 years. While these technologies do require fossil fuels to manufacture, the overall fossil fuel use during it's lifetime is far less than conventional heating/cooling.

What little auto use I do is with an used electric vehicle. Once again, the lifetime use of which has far smaller climate impact than a conventional vehicle. And I live in a rural area. When I do have to go into town, I try to do everything in one trip. I almost never buy anything new, but prefer to buy things used as the climate cost has already been paid.

My house has a level of insulation that even if I used conventional heating cooling my energy bill would be around $100 per month. I chose that level of insulation even though it initially cost more. It has paid for itself many times over. In California, there are programs that help low income people insulate their homes for free and even furnish high efficiency appliances. It is cheaper to do that than to build power plants to generate the energy in the first place. While I am not in Colorado, there has been snow on the ground in my area much of the last week. I am at around 1800 ft. elevation.

By the way, we have had almost 5 years of devastating fires in my area of Northern California in the last 7 years. My house has been missed by less than a mile 4 times already. I have evacuated more times than I can count. Many of my customers have lost homes and businesses to wild fires directly tied to the drought conditions brought by climate change. It is real and it's going to get worse. Many can not buy home insurance any more in this county.

I don't fly because of the fossil fuel imprint and anything I would need to do by flying I can do with an electronic alternative.

I am a vegetarian because of the industrial meat industry and the horrific climate impact of our unnecessary over reliance of meat in our diets. (I worked in a meat processing plant during a summer vacation and cured myself of my meat addiction quickly.) That was 45 years ago and the industry has only gotten worse.

I have done all of this despite the fact that as far as the government is concerned I live in in the bottom 20% income bracket. I own my home free and clear because I refuse to go into debt. I buy things with my savings. I run a computer consulting business that is critical to individuals and businesses in my community. I charge far less than the prevailing rate as I live in a very poor county in California.

This is possible to do. It requires planning, self-education, and choices. I live a wonderful life. I grow a lot of my own food and am reasonably healthy for my age. If we don't start making these critical choices now we are leaving a world that will be unrecognizable in 50 years.

I don't have children by choice. I do this for everyone else's children and because it reflects my values.

I can't convince you of anything. You have to walk your own path. But be aware that the choices you make regarding climate and greenhouse gasses affect everyone.

There is no free lunch.