Climate Impacts

I love my coffee.

Have you ever wondered why coffee prices are so high?

We often hear about the impacts of climate change in apocalyptic terms. Floods and fires ravaging the planet. We all can list climate impacts, if not, google it.

This apocalyptic damage is often pushed out in the future, and it sometimes feels like the story of the boy who cried wolf or Chicken Little, warning us that the sky is falling.

I have a different perspective on climate change that might change your reference point. Why are coffee prices so high? Two years ago, I could get my can of coffee for $6 or $7. Last year it was around $13. It is now $15 or $16.

If you look into the issue you will find two drivers. The second and most recent is due to tarriffs. The first and initial reason for the jump is about the weather in Brazil and Vietnam. XXX more dtails here.

My take-home here is that we don't grow coffee in the US because we don't have the soils and weather needed to grow coffee. Michigan and Colorado is known for peaches. Washington grows apples. The Midwest US is the breadbasket of the nation growing corn, soybeans, and wheat. These agroeco regions are most suited to these crops. Subtle changes in precipitation patterns or temperatures in these regions alter crop production. Coffee plantations in Brazil and Vietnam can't just 'relocate'. Finding the right soils, temperatures, and rainfall are not easy.

XXX lots of work here still.

More Than Climate Impacts

My Grandma J once reminded me that when Moses came off of the mountain with his message from God about 'no false images', craftsmen building golden statues lost their jobs. This declaration impacted real families and real lives.

Reducing our consumption or transitioning to low carbon energy to slow climate change will have some negative consequences. Workers building gas-powered vehicles will lose their jobs when we buy EVs. People who make all the gadgets we are no longer buying will need to find other work. If we choose solar over coal, the coal miners will suffer. Wasting less food or reducing our meat consumption will impact farmers. Powerlines and wind turbines and nuclear power plants will need to be built in someone's back yard. This transition will not be easy.

Consuming less or changing what we consume will have impacts across the US economy. Consumer spending (spending by you and I) makes up 70% of the US economy. Not spending could influence the stock market, . . . .

Xxx Lots more here. We can change more than the climate. Buy products you support.