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- Currently in Boston — October 4, 2023: Another warm day
Currently in Boston — October 4, 2023: Another warm day
Plus, could a coalition Speaker of the House avoid a shutdown?
Eric Holthaus & Dave Epstein
October 03, 2023
The weather, currently.
Another warm day
After a day which felt like late summer skies will be mainly clear tonight allowing temperatures to fall back down into the 50s. There will be some ground fog in the morning but that will quickly dissipate leaving us with mostly sunny skies as readings get to between 75 and 80. This is about 10° above average for the time of year. Another nice day is on tap for Thursday it will be a little bit cooler with temperatures in the lower to middle 70s. There will be sunshine accompanying those readings. Skies become cloudy on Friday as a frontal system approaches and there may be some showers by evening or overnight. It's another wet Saturday with showers and even a steadier rain. I'll have more details on the timing of that tomorrow. It does look like it will become partly sunny on Sunday and blustery.
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 existing networks:
