Our issues’ place in big picture

As I write this, the Israeli military is poised to attack the Gaza Strip in an effort to get the release of a kidnapped soldier.

Global warming is real and is now shrinking the ice in Greenland. The shrinking is accelerating.

Yet another country believes that the path to peace is through the development of nuclear weapons. In a touch of irony, some of the world’s nations may have to use force to stop that country.

Terrorists continue to slaughter innocent people, even though their tactics have failed to move any of the world’s powers to acquiesce to whatever it is they want.

The price of oil continues rise, as does our consumption. All we seem to want to do in response is crank out a few more hybrid automobiles.

On a day trip to San Francisco last week, I arrived at my appointment late in the afternoon. Outside, the temperature was 91 degrees. Inside, thanks to too much demand, a power grid went down and there was no air conditioning in the building.

It was like 2003 all over again. Summer had barely begun and the state had had a blackout. The worst part, however, was the knowledge that we continue to consume power as though it were unlimited or that we had unlimited resources to pay for it.

In short, there seems to be nothing preventing us from another summer of power shortages, even without Enron in the picture.

With all of this bad news, it is sometimes difficult to get upset about some of the local challenges we are facing.

In the final analysis, is it really such a travesty if the Newport Beach city hall is located here or there? Yes, it is if it can be built for free and it is not. I question, again, why the location is so important to so many when so few avail themselves of the facility in the first place.

The loss of park space at the suggested new location is a challenge. Parks in cities are an asset, so before we lose one to some concrete and steel, someone should determine just how much of a loss this will be.

A survey is needed, and it doesn’t cost a fortune. Regular readers know that I conducted a very specific survey for more than two months on the consequences of closing Costa Mesa’s job center. It showed that day laborers were once again spread out on Placentia Avenue the way they were before the center opened.

All it takes in Newport Beach is one concerned citizen with a little time.

City Councilman Tod Ridgeway offered reasoned opposition to the free city hall plan in Tuesday’s Daily Pilot. His tone and the support for his arguments were fine examples of how a debate should proceed.

But it’s getting more difficult to muster any passion for burying utility poles, remaking Marinapark, stopping the airport expansion or stopping illegal immigrants from cleaning up the messes we make in our homes, cars and offices.

Even the illegal immigration issue is becoming yesterday’s news. Three-quarters of the people in the state support President Bush’s proposals for handling illegal immigrants, and people on both sides of the argument agree that our borders need much more rigorous enforcement.

If I’m not feeling all that swell about what’s going on, it cannot be helped. One of the big reasons for the blue mood is that a certain family may soon be leaving the area for good. This family is as good as they get, and their departure will be a measurable loss.

Mom and dad volunteered for everything. The kids are the kind you want your own kids to have as friends.

Life goes on. There isn’t a lot we can do about many of the global issues we all face except tell our representatives what we think, but we can make a difference locally. Locally, I keep hoping for our leaders to lead. I keep hoping that the members of our school board will lead the way in Sacramento and Washington to reducing the curriculum in our schools so our teachers can teach ? really teach.

And I keep hoping that either city council will set a national precedent and start getting serious about energy conservation. The first move would be to start a voluntary program that would encourage businesses to turn off their signs at night when they are not open for business.

These are not really small steps. They are important signals to state and national leaders that while they have the time and desire to delay action on important topics, those of us in the trenches do not.

We’re the ones with kids in school who come home with too much homework and too much algebra, and we’re the ones who pay for the higher gas and electricity because someone else mismanaged a program.

Thanks for reading. I feel better now.