Regarding the massive marine die-off in the Pacific, that billion animals is on top of the estimated billion animals lost in the Australian wildfires of 2020. Now I see this from The Seattle Times in my inbox:
"Northwest struggles with wildfires; B.C. has hundreds. Here's what you need to know.
"With 300 fires burning in British Columbia, 24 in California, 14 in Idaho, 13 in Oregon, and four in Washington, it’s safe to say wildfire season is here. Here's what we know so far."

While we've been merrily fighting The Culture Wars, the worst global catastrophe ever is bearing down upon us, and we seem incapable of connecting the dots and collectively taking action to reduce the burning of fossil fuels globally. Few of us even appear capable of connecting the dots with our own consumer behaviors.

I have a story in my inbox this morning from Matthew Yglesias: "What is the climate left doing?" (Yglesias and I have apparently missed the memo that email is dead.) I've just glanced over this, but it seems Yglesias is arguing that climate activists are foolishly trying to make Joe Biden the enemy. "Climate groups seem to be operating in a reality where there is massive public support for much more dramatic action on climate change and the only thing standing in their way is a need to sweep aside the power of corrupt and timid moderate Democrats."

Star Trek: Save the Whales is a good start. If you want to go old series, Trouble with Tribbles and Wolf in the Fold are pretty decent. Pretty much and second season Next Gen is good for an intro, as are early Voyager. I feel like Deep Space 9 and Enterprise require too much explication.

@3 - Character actors John Fiedler (Wolf in the Fold) and Stanley Adams (Trouble with Tribbles) could be perceived as gay but it wasn't part of the stories.

Yes Matt, cops are good to have around. Especially near Broadway and Pike. They were busy, and there's nothing in the linked story to indicate that there was a delay in the response.

Star Trek II or GTFO

@5: William Shatner irritates you that much?

You don't start a total STn00b with STII because a new person has no emotional context for Spock's sacrifice.

I'd send someone to TNG "The Inner Light." Beautiful acting, compelling story.

@ 7,
The film does a fine job of establishing the context. It's the best OG Star Trek film and an enjoyable movie in its own right. It sets the stage for the themes of courage in the face of impossible odds and heartbreaking loss that recur throughout the subsequent series up to and including Picard.

Discovery

@6 Im pretty sure Shatner is, in OriganlAndrew parlance, a Republikkkan Nazi. So I think that is a rhetorical question maybe?

"If we can do this, just imagine what you can do..."
The irony of this self-serving statement from a billionaire is beyond description!

Almond extract . . . https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/07/honeybees-deaths-almonds-hives-aoe . . . aaaand, Vanilla . . . https://www.treehugger.com/scientists-make-vanilla-flavoring-from-used-plastic-5190839 One picks her/his/their/its poison.

The very best climate action of all is to stop breeding like rabbits.

dvs99 @13, I appreciate your observation.

I must admit, there's a certain genius to overpopulation whataboutism. Are there too many humans on this planet, or are there going to be too many humans on this planet? Of course. So reducing the problem of climate change to one of global human population gives us the perfect excuse to do nothing about climate change.

@13: Actually we are. Fertility rates are down in several countries, including China.

Star Trek original series episode 'Space Seed', and then Star Trek II, Wrath of Kahn, then Star Trek IV, Undiscovered Country, then Star Trek Next Generation episode 'Unification'. Could also go Enterprise episode 'In a Mirror, Darkly' and then Star Trek original series 'Enemy Within'. Could also go Star Trek Next Generation: First Contact, and the Enterprise episode 'Regeneration'

As a Trekker from literally Day One, having watched the series premier episode "The Man Trap" (September 8th, "Star Trek Day" is a designated holiday in our household) I would advise anyone new to Trek to start with The Original Series (TOS), particularly seasons 1 & 2 (episodes in season 3, when the show's budget was slashed, NBC scheduled it in the late Friday evening "death slot", and Roddenberry had essentially given up creative control, range from pretty good to downright execrable), before watching the TOS-based films. Then The Next Generation (keeping in-mind season 1 is pretty weak, but things start to pick up in season 2), followed by Deep Space Nine and Voyager respectively, and then the TNG-based films. I don't think it's necessary to watch every single episode, but a few are crucial in the context of how they connect to the films (for example, definitely watch the TOS season 1 episode "Space Seed" before watching "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan").

I'm not a big fan of the Abrams-verse: "Star Trek" was a pretty decent film, and was smart in terms of establishing an alternate timeline separate from the TOS universe, but IMO "Into Darkness" was a horrible and pointless remake of TWOK, and "Beyond" was just another formulaic summer blockbuster action movie rollercoaster ride with the visual effects completely overwhelming a middling, and frankly confusing script. And "Discovery" is an ill-conceived attempt at retconning TOS - if they'd only set it in the Kelvin timeline like the film reboots fans would have accepted it, but Abrams and CBS (which, for the record passed on TOS back in 1965 in favor of their "other space show" "Lost In Space") decided they were going to ignore history, established canon, and the loyalty of several generations of fans, in their desire to completely "own" the entire concept of Star Trek, and that has never set well with me.

Live long and prosper...

@5 & @8 - Concur.

I thought I had read somewhere that growing almonds was one of the very worst crops for the environment.

A billionaire burns a ton of carbon to joyride above a planet self-immolating due to centuries of burning carbon. If that isn’t the perfect encapsulation of the bankrupt philosophy of the west, I don’t know what is. We created an economic system that allows individuals to pursue pointless distractions like plastic kings until we all die of starvation, hear stroke or both. I bet Socrates would be proud.

@19 - almonds require 1,900 gallons of water per pound to grow. By contrast, a juicy tomato requires 26.

I'm 47, but I remember hearing seriously about global warming (the term before it was re-branded to global climate change) in a Forestry management class at UW in 1992. There was the hole in the ozone layer, etc., caused by aerosol. It's taken 30 years and even now people acknowledge aspects of it, but don't really change their behavior. Cars have gotten bigger, not smaller, and consumerism has increased, not decreased (see Amazon). Humans seem to be able to react and adapt to sudden change fairly quickly, but slow moving disasters, that is literally the frog boiling in the water analogy, not so much.

Centrists @20, huge +1. When I see about this billionaires racing to space, aside from my initial disgust, my first reaction is, "Just imagine all the fossil fuel that needs to be burned for one of those flights." It's not just fiddling while Rome is burning. It's committing casual arson while Rome is burning.

Good comment by tempur_tempur @22. It's also the tragedy of the commons.

@14 - I certainly would not put it that way although I'm sure some people will. I'm more concerned that the sheer number of us is going to make it impossible to reduce our emissions to where they need to be (this also goes for other forms of pollution, deforestation, etc.) and am not at all happy to see the population issue being completely neglected by most of the environmental movement.

@27: Some did, most did not.

The Orville is the best reboot of Star Trek.

dvs99 @24: "I… am not at all happy to see the population issue being completely neglected by most of the environmental movement."

I am not at all happy to see the many direct and tangible measures against climate change being completely neglected in your comment @13.

Listen, any time climate change comes up on a major news site (not Slog) and we start talking about the various measures we can take to reduce it, there's always a tidal wave of commenters who bring up overpopulation. What's interesting is, these commenters (and you're an example of this) never mention overpopulation as something we should address IN ADDITION TO the other measures we should take. They never even offer any input on how we should address overpopulation. They just say, "Hey, what about overpopulation?"

Hey, what about whataboutism?

Signed,
Someone who believes we SHOULD take measures to address overpopulation

Climate change denial over-fueled by the insatiable greed of the fossil fuel industry, Trumpian stupidity and incompetence has consequences. One billion marine animals dead in under three days, and record outdoor temperatures in the triple digits here in the PNW one would think would finally be a wake up call.
No cure for the rabidly MAGA stupid? Evidently QAnons, Proud Boys, Patriot Players, MAGA rubes, their enablers, and all other stubborn anti-vaxxers will need to start losing some of their own. Which will prevail first--common sense and accountability or COVID?
Meanwhile, blood red states face the most extreme weather conditions (anyone remember the unseasonal cold snap that froze and shut down AC-dependent Texas early this year while Teddy Cruz and family took off to Cancun?), hurricane seasons have extended, Florida continues to sink deeper into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean and Mr. Dick-tater Trump laughs his fat white ass off in the Mar-a-Lunatic Swamp......

@31, hey, a billion deaths here, a billion deaths there, pretty soon you're talking a real tragedy. But thanks for the reminder of the scale of factory farming today.

Anyway, I suppose, so long as you personally are not inconvenienced, do any of us really, truly need to worry about climate change?

Fuck you, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos! I'll be impressed when you blast off and never return.

A billion dead marine animals in less than three days. FUCK.

@32 Professor_Hiztory: I share your concerns.