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June 24, 2021
Having grown up in northern New Jersey, I have never lost the habit of reading the metro area newspapers. Recently, while perusing the June 12th edition of the New York Times, a short article buried at the bottom of page 8 in section B caught my attention.
A physicist working for the Environmental Defense Fund called climate change “a problem which, if unchecked, will come to dominate all others in its effect on the environment”. With that in mind, a Democratic senator urged his colleagues not to wait until every fact was airtight and indisputable before taking aggressive action. A Republican senator agreed, stating that “the consequences of this continuing are nothing short of catastrophic for the human race and other living species”.
Happy to finally see some hints of bipartisan common ground regarding climate (or anything else for that matter), I moved on to other stories. Sanctions were being considered to promote a move toward racial equality. There was concern about the lack of transparency from Russia. No real surprises here.
On the lighter side, there were some good sales on electronics for Father’s Day and, believe it or not, a half-decent rate on a bank CD.
This was all part of the June 12th edition of the Times. In 1986.1
The EDF physicist was Dr. Michael Oppenheimer, who remains a prominent voice on climate change to this day. The philosophically aligned Senators were two New Englanders, Democrat George Mitchell of Maine and Republican John Chafee of Rhode Island. Mitchell went on to become Senate Majority Leader and later worked for Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama. Chafee had been Secretary of the Navy under Richard Nixon and served 23 years in the Senate before he died in 1999. One wonders where we’d be today if more people had listened. One also wonders which of today's molehills will be mountains in a few decades.
As for the other news: The sanctions were being considered as a response to Apartheid in South Africa. Western countries were concerned Russia (well, actually the Soviet Union) was understating the amount of radiation that escaped during the recent Chernobyl meltdown.
For Father’s Day, a Sony camcorder weighing 4 lbs. 6 oz. could be had for $1,188 at The Wiz (“Great Dads Deserve State of the Art Sony”). First City Federal Savings Bank was offering a 2-year CD yielding 8.25% (customers were instructed to call and “ask for Mary Nolan”).2
Notes
1. I actually found this by reading the current NY Times online, where they occasionally provide links to “flashback” articles. As a subscriber, you can go back and find any day in history and read the paper for that day. It’s kind of like reading a book and pretty cool if you enjoy 20th century history.
2. Don't get any ideas. First City Federal Savings Bank doesn't exist anymore, and at this stage, it's very possible Mary doesn't either.
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