Welcome to Dystopia: From Wildfires, to Flooding, to Serial Banking Crises and Crypto Frauds, It’s All Too Surreal

[Gunnar Larson]

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: June 8, 2023 ~

Yesterday, news headlines blared that New York City had the worst air
quality in the world, as an eerie brownish-orange haze enveloped the city
and Long Island. Photographs that looked more like scenes from a sci-fi
movie popped up all over Twitter. Daytime took on a nighttime quality as
streetlights automatically flipped on.

Outdoor activities of all kinds were cancelled: the New York Yankees and
Philadelphia Phillies cancelled their home games that had been scheduled
for Wednesday; schools banned outdoor activities on playgrounds; millions
of Americans living in the Northeast United States were cautioned to remain
indoors.

The Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, announced she was
distributing one million N95 masks – a flashback to the hellish life of New
Yorkers in 2020 and 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the city and the
overflowing bodies of COVID victims had to be stored in refrigerator trucks.

The deep, dangerous haze on Wednesday, which is still present this morning,
is coming from wildfires in Canada. According to Governor Hochul, a normal
Air Quality Index (AQI) is 50, but yesterday Brooklyn recorded an AQI of
413 while Queens recorded an AQI of 407 – more than twice the readings of
some of the most polluted cities in the world.

New Yorkers were not the only people to be impacted. By noon, Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania recorded an AQI of 410. Health officials up and down the East
Coast warned residents that there were fine particulates in the air that
could cause serious respiratory problems for those venturing outdoors.

New York State officials issued a notice, warning that fine particulates
“can cause short-term health effects such as irritation to the eyes, nose,
and throat, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and shortness of breath.” The
statement also cautioned that “Exposure to elevated levels of fine
particulate matter can also worsen medical conditions such as asthma and
heart disease….”

The Associated Press published detailed advice on “How to stay healthy as
smoke spreads from Canada wildfires.” The syndicated advice was carried by
the Long Island newspaper, Newsday. It included this:

“When inside, keep doors, windows and fireplaces shut so that smoke stays
out. If you have a portable air purifier or HVAC system, run it to help
keep the air clean, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends. Check
that your filters are high quality and up to date. Make sure any filters or
air conditioners are set to recirculate indoor air to avoid bringing in
smoke from outside. If you have a window air conditioner, check that it’s
sealed to the window as tightly as possible. And try to avoid activities
that would add more particles to the air in your home — like smoking,
burning candles or frying meat.”

Another danger not mentioned by the media yesterday is that Americans are
increasingly becoming desensitized to surreal weather events at the same
time that fossil fuel money is pouring into Congressional races and putting
more and more climate-change deniers on key Committees in Congress to bully
regulators in hearings and obstruct the passage of legislation. (See our
report: A Fossil Fuels Giant Has Been Raising the Election Chances of
Extreme-Right Candidates — Using a Dangerous High-Tech Weapon.)

Many of these Congressional proponents of a hands-off approach by
government to the fossil fuel industry, share the same hands-off view for
crypto currencies – raising our suspicions that the two may be linked. To
get your head around that idea, just remember that crypto begins with
so-called “mining” that drives up demand for fossil fuels. This is how
Senator Elizabeth Warren described this crypto “mining” at a Senate hearing
in June of 2021:

“Finally, there are the environmental costs of crypto. Many
cryptocurrencies are created through ‘proof-of-work’ mining. It involves
using computers to solve useless mathematical puzzles in exchange for newly
minted cryptocurrency tokens. Such mining has devastating consequences for
the climate. Some crypto mining is set up near coal plants, spewing out
filth in return for a chance to harvest a few crypto coins. Total energy
consumption is staggering, driving up demand for energy. If, for example,
Bitcoin — just one of the cryptocurrencies — were a country, it would
already be the 33rd largest energy user in the world — using more energy
yearly than all of the Netherlands.

“And all those promised benefits – the currency that would be available at
no cost to millions of unbanked families and that would provide a haven
from the tricks and traps of big banks – well, those benefits haven’t
materialized.”

What has materialized, however, are massive crypto frauds which also have a
surreal, dystopian quality. (See also: Former New York Fed Pres Bill Dudley
Calls This the First Banking Crisis Since 2008; Charts Show It’s the Third.)

Those members of Congress who have pushed this laissez faire attitude are
getting a personal lesson in climate change this morning. The Washington
Post reports the following conditions in Washington, D.C. and surrounding
area:

“Residents in the Washington and Baltimore regions are awakening to their
worst air quality in years. EPA air quality monitors are reporting
widespread Code Red and Code Purple conditions, signifying unhealthy
conditions for most people and especially those with respiratory concerns.
Toward Baltimore, some monitors are reading Code Maroon, signifying
hazardous ‘emergency’ conditions, unhealthy for everyone.”


https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/06/welcome-to-dystopia-from-wildfires-to-flooding-to-serial-banking-crises-and-crypto-frauds-its-all-too-surreal/
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