When people ask me what they can do to support climate progress, one piece of advice I give again and again is to annoy their friends and family by talking about climate change constantly.

Here’s the thing: Large majorities of Americans understand that global warming is real, dangerous and caused by humans. Even so, it’s not a threat that most people prioritize in their daily lives.

For proof, see the latest edition of Climate Change in the American Mind, a twice-yearly poll from George Mason and Yale universities. Researchers talked with 1,013 adults, releasing the results this month. They found that 73% of Americans think global warming is happening. Sixty percent know it’s mostly human-caused.

Also illuminating: Nearly two-thirds of Americans are worried about climate change consequences. Between 61% and 77% think global warming is affecting problems such as electric outages, water pollution, reduced snowpack, air pollution, hurricanes, droughts, fires and extreme heat, the poll found. All that tracks with the science.

Despite those concerns, 62% of Americans say they rarely or never discuss global warming with friends or family. Just 27% say they hear about it on social media at least once a month. Not even 1 in 3 consumers are, even occasionally, making purchasing decisions based on the steps companies have taken to reduce pollution.

It’s no wonder tech giants Microsoft and Meta are backing away from their renewable energy goals and rushing to build gas-fired plants to power artificial intelligence. If President Trump loves fossil fuels, and consumers don’t care, what’s the harm? Same goes for fossil fuel giant BP, which is planning to scrap its renewable energy goal.

It’s also no wonder the U.S. has made such slow political progress addressing oil and gas pollution. Polling has found that while voters know the climate crisis is real and dangerous, it’s relatively low on their priority list.

There’s no easy way to get more people to prioritize climate. Especially not when traditional media is less trusted than ever. Especially not when Trump and Elon Musk are working frantically to dismantle the federal government and undermine American democracy. It’s hard to pay attention to much of anything right now.

But talking to your friends and family? It’s a great place to start.

Remind them that climate still matters. Send them articles and videos. Point out that even as democracy hangs in the balance, a planet ravaged by ever-deadlier heat waves, fires and storms isn’t a place any of us want to live.

You might be annoying. But you’ll be helping.

On that note, here’s what’s happening around the West:

TRUMP STUFF

Gov. Gavin Newsom attends a news conference at Odyssey Charter School as work begins to remove debris from the Eaton fire in Altadena on Feb. 11.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Gavin Newsom is still being super nice to President Trump in an effort to secure wildfire aid for Los Angeles County. Late last week, Newsom asked Republican congressional leaders to approve nearly $40 billion in aid, saying California is “eternally grateful” for Trump’s support, as The Times’ Clara Harter reports.

I continue to think Newsom is making a mistake — in part because doing anything besides fighting a wannabe dictator is just plain wrong, and in part because I doubt the governor will get what he wants.

To wit: On Friday, a Trump aide suggested support for L.A. County will be contingent on the state defunding the California Coastal Commission, my colleagues Michael Wilner and Faith E. Pinho report — only the latest absurd fire-related demand from Trump and his allies. As it happens, Trump advisor Elon Musk’s company SpaceX sued the Coastal Commission last year after a dispute over the environmental impacts of rocket launches.

Also last week: Newsom’s chief disaster officer asked the Trump administration to test soil for toxic chemicals in areas burned by the Eaton and Palisades fires. Federal officials said, “No,” The Times’ Tony Briscoe reports.

Maybe Trump and friends will change course and show some humanity. Consider me doubtful.

Some of the Trump administration’s clearest disdain for the public good, conservative voters included, can be seen in its job cuts to the National Park Service (some of which have been rescinded). A few stories:

• There is no longer a staff locksmith who can rescue people from locked restrooms at Yosemite. Some visitors to Grand Canyon National Park, meanwhile, endured 1.5-hour wait times to get in. (Washington Post)
• At Nevada’s Great Basin, the search and rescue team is down to one member. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• The Environmental Protection Agency wants to delay a pollution reduction plan for parks including Yosemite and Sequoia. The agency is blaming staffing problems after Trump’s layoffs. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• A federal funding freeze could make the Pacific Crest Trail more perilous for hikers. (San Francisco Chronicle)

It’s not like Americans are clamoring for these changes. Colorado College’s latest Conservation in the West poll, released this month, found that 72% of voters across eight states — Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Utah and Wyoming — want Congress to prioritize conservation over oil and gas production on public lands, Inside Climate News reports. Most respondents were politically conservative or independent.

An upside-down American flag hangs from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park on Saturday.

(Tracy Barbutes / San Francisco Chronicle)

Fortunately, there are avenues for pushing back.

Over the weekend, Yosemite National Park staffers protested the firing of their colleagues by hanging an upside-down American flag on the side of El Capitan, an iconic rock wall. Amid the outcry, administration officials agreed to reverse some — but not nearly all — of the Park Service job cuts, The Times’ Jack Dolan reports.

It’s not just national parks under threat. Trump is gutting environmental protections wherever he can:

• Trump’s federal funding freeze could affect Los Angeles River restoration projects. (Los Angeles Times)
• Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ended funding for National Institutes of Health programs that protect people from the health consequences of extreme weather. (Mother Jones)
• Trump’s Federal Emergency Management Agency is no longer helping develop building codes that protect homes from floods and other extreme weather events, as it has for 25 years. (National Public Radio)
• Job cuts at the Bonneville Power Administration could lead to blackouts in the Pacific Northwest. (OPB)

Federal officials are also attacking clean energy and supporting fossil fuels wherever they can:

• The Trump administration has started the process of shutting down hundreds of electric vehicle charging stations at federal buildings. It’s also planning to offload already-purchased EVs. (The Verge)
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is using Trump’s false “energy emergency” claims as an excuse to short-circuit clean water protections and speed up permitting for fossil fuel projects. (New York Times)
• An executive order from Trump claiming control over independent agencies created by Congress could give him more power to promote oil and gas through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (E&E News)
• Environmental groups are suing the Trump administration to block the possibility of new offshore oil and gas drilling sought by the president, including off the Pacific coast. (New York Times)

One more story with significance to California. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy showed up at L.A.’s Union Station to announce a review of California’s spending of federal high-speed rail funding. He called the bullet train, which is supposed to run from L.A. to San Francisco, a “crappy project,” The Times’ Colleen Shalby reports.

AROUND THE WEST

The fallout from the Los Angeles fires continues. A few recent stories from my L.A. Times colleagues:

• There’s cancer-causing benzene in the water in both the Eaton and Palisades burn zones. Although the long-term health effects are serious, it’s hard for scientists to say what the short-term implications might be.
• Protesters blocked trucks carrying Palisades fire debris from reaching a landfill in Calabasas.
• A master-planned Irvine neighborhood was left untouched by a fall 2020 wildfire amid drought and 80-mph Santa Ana winds. It could serve as a model for a more fire-resistant Los Angeles, some experts say.

A few stories about water and wildlife too, also from The Times:

• One extremely wet winter wasn’t enough to make up for two decades of groundwater overpumping across Southern California’s aquifers, new research finds. Long-term droughts do lasting damage, the authors say.
• California wildlife officials captured and collared a dozen gray wolves, bringing the total number being tracked by satellite to 16. It’s an important step in guiding the endangered predator’s continued recovery.
• Get to know the bugs of L.A. through this video from The Times’ Lila Seidman and Albert Brave Tiger Lee.

ONE MORE THING

Solar panels surround a farm field in California’s Imperial County.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Thanks to Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver for this epic takedown of California’s Williamson Act, which is supposed to keep agricultural land from being converted to suburbs, but in truth — as Weaver shows in exhaustive detail — has become a tax giveaway to wealthy landowners, many of whom aren’t even farmers. The law does little to fulfill its original purpose and often enriches Wall Street investors and pension funds, Weaver reports.

His story makes me wish I had given less credence to the California Farm Bureau Federation when I reported last year on a bill that would have tweaked the Williamson Act to support solar development on farmland. The bureau opposed the bill, defending the Williamson Act as a successful, sacrosanct statute. I personally concluded that the bill was a good idea, although I took seriously the farm bureau’s arguments, which ultimately won the day.

Now I know better.

This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our Boiling Point podcast here.

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