> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.possibilities.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Hurricane Idalia & Hard Truths - URL: https://www.possibilities.news/hurricane-idalia-fossil-fuels/ - Published: 2023-08-31T12:00:46.000Z - Updated: 2023-09-07T14:01:13.000Z - Description: Hurricane Idalia offered us many lessons. The most important? Fossil fuels gotta go. - Author: Yessenia Funes **LISTENING:** *to the Sakura theme song* **FEELING:** *exhausted by life!* **SEEING:** *my niece play on her iPad* "First came the hurricane, then the morning sun." Every time a hurricane strikes, I think of this line from Lil Wayne's "Tie My Hands." It's a sobering reminder that today's storm will pass — both figuratively and literally. It's an empowering reassurance of our resiliency. I think many of us need this message today. As I write this, homes along the northwestern coast of Florida are underwater. Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning as a Category 3\. [According to CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/weather/florida-hurricane-idalia-wednesday/index.html?ref=possibilities.news), storm surge may reach up to 16 feet in some parts of the state — a state whose Republican governor is [unwilling](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/28/ron-desantis-climate-crisis-campaign?ref=possibilities.news) to talk about climate change's role in fueling destructive hurricanes. In Florida and the South at large, many communities can't count on their elected officials to come save them when disaster comes knocking. They know that's a dead dream. **Instead, they must look to what's possible when they come together.** [Subscribe here](https://www.possibilities.news/#/portal/signup) Welcome to **Possibilities**, a creative climate newsletter on the possibilities that lie where crisis meets community. I’m **Yessenia Funes**, and I'm not afraid to talk about the climate emergency. Gov. (and presidential hopeful) Ron DeSantis may be, but we keep it real over here. I want to go further and call out what's actually strengthening storms like Idalia: fossil fuel pollution. The greenhouse gases released by oil and gas projects help the atmosphere retain more heat. This heat is disrupting global climate patterns, all while invigorating the Atlantic and endangering coastal communities. A clear example of how elected officials continue to drop the ball on taking swift action to reduce this threat is the Mountain Valley Pipeline. I [wrote](https://atmos.earth/appalachia-mobilizes-against-mountain-valley-pipeline/?ref=possibilities.news) about the 300-mile gas pipeline for Atmos this week — and the efforts to stop it. You'd think the record-breaking disasters of years past would encourage lawmakers against approving more fossil fuel infrastructure, but that's simply not the case. With the Fiscal Responsibility Act in June, Congress and President Joe Biden steamrolled the Mountain Valley Pipeline despite repeated court setbacks related to its environmental impacts. The fracked gas pipeline's operation may [result](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/01/some-experts-are-questioning-mountain-valley-pipeline-emissions-estimates/?ref=possibilities.news) in six million to 89 million metric tons of carbon contributions. Now, we've got Hurricane Idalia to kick off hurricane season in force — and the season is only halfway through. Every year that our leaders fail to reduce emissions to zero is another year they've contributed to making storms like these deadlier. Hurricane Idalia touched down only a few hours ago as of my writing, and it's already [killed](https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/hurricane-idalia-tracker-path-florida-b2401816.html?ref=possibilities.news) two. How many more people have to die until leaders in the U.S. and beyond get their shit together? Maybe they're betting on our demise, but in the words of Lil Wayne — who worked on "Tie My Hands" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — we're riding on love, y'all. "\[T\]ry they can't steal your pride it's inside / Then find it and keep on grinding / Cause in every dark cloud, there's a silver lining." 🌀 ## Rest in Power **While we can't say for certain that climate change led to these specific weather events (we need attribution studies for that), we do know that the Earth's rising temperatures are already creating more disasters like these.** I'm holding love and space for those in Hurricane Idalia's path — and the two folks it's already [killed](https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/hurricane-idalia-tracker-path-florida-b2401816.html?ref=possibilities.news). Heavy rain in Liverpool, England, resulted in the [death](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-66635952?ref=possibilities.news) of a couple over the weekend. A hiker is [dead](https://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/news/hiker-deaths-utah-flooding-bryce-canyon/?ref=possibilities.news) after flash flooding late last week in Utah. In the central Asian country of Tajikistan, landslides and floods on the weekend [ended](https://rus.ozodi.org/a/32569187.html?ref=possibilities.news) the lives of at least 17 people. I'm still thinking about [all the people](https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/news/lahaina-victims?ref=possibilities.news) whose lives were cut short in Lahaina, Maui. ## Currently Reading [Here's](https://atmos.earth/appalachia-mobilizes-against-mountain-valley-pipeline/?ref=possibilities.news) my deep dive into the Mountain Valley Pipeline for Atmos. Rebecca Solnit [writes](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/26/we-cant-afford-to-be-climate-doomers?ref=possibilities.news), "Hope is not happiness or confidence or inner peace; it’s a commitment to search for possibilities." [Time to get pissed.](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/21/anger-is-most-powerful-emotion-by-far-for-spurring-climate-action-study-finds?ref=possibilities.news) You can always count on Zahra Hirji at Bloomberg to lay out the facts. Read her [deep dive](https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-global-warming-impacts-data?ref=possibilities.news) on how temperature rise is ruining everything. [Rhiana Gunn-Wright in Hammer & Hope](https://hammerandhope.org/article/climate-green-new-deal?ref=possibilities.news): "Never in my life have I wished more to be a cyclone, blowing away everything in my path, or an earthquake, shaking everyone to their core until they take seriously the concerns of Black and Indigenous frontline communities." ## Poetry i fell in love with a jellyfish once its tentacles gold and foggy blue it would stretch and swim its electricity pulled me in but jellyfish don't kiss they don't hold your hand or tuck you in they sting they grip they bite they kill i fell in love with a jellyfish once its attacks left me red and blue swollen and bruised sordid and confused but i survived i floated away i lived to see another day resilient and ready smarter and steady \-ylf- ****What are you reading and seeing? Join the community and become a paid member so that you can share in a comment.** **See you next week. xx** \- Yessenia [Follow me on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/yessfun/?ref=possibilities.news) [Follow me on TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@msyessfun?ref=possibilities.news) [Follow me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/yessfun?ref=possibilities.news)