Currently in Portland — August 24, 2023: Warming up, despite the smoke

The weather, currently.

The weekend warmup is in full force on Thursday, with temps in the low 90s. A bit of haze will be hanging around (guess we’re not totally free of smoke yet) but it won’t really dull the power of the sunshine—just give it a bit of a creepy warm glow.

But in cooler news: Thursday marks the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. So whether you’re a PSL fan, or simply eager for any signs of fall (like me) I’d say that begins the official countdown to autumn and spooky season. And that’s reason enough to indulge in a sweet treat.

— Stella Harris

What you need to know, currently.

It’s my excruciating duty to report that climate denial is alive and well in the year 2023.

With less than 15 months until Election Day, in the middle of what’s likely to be Earth’s hottest year since human civilization began, Republican presidential candidates gathered on a 100°F day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to talk about who would be the best person to beat Joe Biden — the self-proclaimed climate president.

It didn’t go well.

Moderators wasted no time in inviting a Gen-Z audience member to ask a climate question at the very beginning of the debate: “Polls consistently show that young people’s number one issue is climate change. How will you, as president, calm their fears that the Republican Party doesn’t care about climate change?”

The responses were agonizing. Trying to one-up his fellow challengers, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy went full climate hoaxer. Chris Christie insulted him for being a person of color. And no one raised their hand when the moderator asked who believed that human activities are causing climate change. (Spoiler: They are.)

That a major national political party anywhere in the world is considering nominating a full-throated climate denier should be a scandal. That it’s in the country most responsible for climate change is an outrage.

—Eric Holthaus

What you can do, currently.

The fires in Maui have struck at the heart of Hawaiian heritage, and if you’d like to support survivors, here are good places to start:

The fires burned through the capital town of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the ancestral and present home to native Hawaiians on their original unceded lands. One of the buildings destroyed was the Na ‘Aikane o Maui cultural center, a gathering place for the Hawaiian community to organize and celebrate.

If you’d like to help the community rebuild and restore the cultural center, a fund has been established that is accepting donations — specify “donation for Na ‘Aikane” on this Venmo link.