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- Currently in D.C. — October 4, 2023: Is it summer or fall?
Currently in D.C. — October 4, 2023: Is it summer or fall?
Plus, could a coalition Speaker of the House avoid a shutdown?
Eric Holthaus & Myriam Vidal
October 03, 2023
The weather, currently.
Clear, sunny and hot
Fiuuu. Where did the fall go? Today we have another clear, sunny and yes, HOT, day. It starts with a cool morning in the 60s until the temperature rises and reaches 82°F by four. We can also expect high indexes of humidity and a clear night with temperatures in the 70s. Don’t forget your bug spray if you go outside because mosquitoes are rampant.
Today I can feel Jane Austen when she wrote: “What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps one in a continual state of inelegance.”
What you need to know, currently.
A US government shutdown just become more likely — again.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted out their leader for the first time in national history. What comes next isn’t readily apparent.
What are the odds we get 12 fully funded appropriation bills in the next six weeks? Zero or less than that? 🙃
— em dash aficionado (@imjacobnotjames)
11:43 PM • Oct 3, 2023
While the House is in a chaos of their own making, no business will get done. And the deal to stop a shutdown last weekend gave only a 45-day window — until November 17th — to formulate and pass funding bills for the entirety of the federal government.
The Washington Post has a good overview (gift link) of all the effects on the environment, climate, and weather operations of the federal government if the government shuts down. Some highlights:
Less enforcement of clean air and water protections. Closure of national parks and other public lands. Interruption of some environmental cleanups. Delays in new federal rules aimed at boosting clean energy.
Those are some of the potential effects of a federal shutdown — consequences that could compound the longer Congress is unable to agree on a way to keep the government operating.
While we are in the middle of an escalating climate emergency, having a functioning federal government is in everyone’s best interest — it helps direct disaster aid, it helps coordinate greenhouse gas regulations, it can stimulate investment in renewable energy.
There’s also a scenario in all this mess that Republicans effectively lose control of the House — and form a coalition government with Democrats — something that has hardly ever been tested in national American politics but is common in other parts of the world. Here’s hoping.
If there are 8 Republicans, perhaps moderate ones, interested in a Coalition government, even temporarily, Hakeem Jefferies would make a great Speaker of the House.
— MidwestCharm (@voter_indie)
12:26 AM • Oct 4, 2023
What you can do, currently.
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One of my favorite organizations, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, serves as a hub of mutual aid efforts focused on climate action in emergencies — like Hurricane season. Find mutual aid network near you and join, or donate to support networks in Florida:
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