Good morning, RVA! It's 71 °F, and today looks hot. Expect highs in the 90s with Feels Like temperatures approaching 100 °F. If you’ve got stuff to do outside, please be cautious and stay hydrated. Also, because climate change is a multifaceted horror, the Department of Environmental Quality forecasts “moderate” air quality for the Richmond region today. I’ve found that DEQ sometimes underforecasts air quality in Richmond proper, so make sure you keep an eye on the AQI, too. If you’ve got a recentish iPhone you can add the Weather app’s AQI widget to your phone’s lock screen, which I’ve found useful.
Water cooler
It’s hot, and one of the best ways to stay safe and cool during extreme heat is to shun the outdoor sauna of Richmond summers and head back inside to wallow in the air conditioning (while chugging liters of water). If you can’t afford or don’t have air conditioning, though, it’s gonna be hot inside, too. The Virginia Department of Social Services offers cooling assistance—which applies to both your utility bills and air conditioning equipment—to a small subset of folks, and, with this week’s hot hot forecast I thought it worth mentioning. Eligible Virginians must have at least one vulnerable individual age 60 or older, disabled, or under age six in their household, and you’ve only got until August 15th to apply. If that’s you, tap through to DSS’s website to learn more about eligibility requirements and how to apply.
City Council’s Land Use, Housing and Transportation committee meets today with an absolutely packed agenda. They’ll hear four different and interesting presentations: a list of new property acquisitions by the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust, an overview of the Jackson Ward Community Plan draft, an update on Richmond Connects, and the Director of Planning will answer some questions about the proposed rental inspection program. Plus the committee will consider a bunch of resolutions asking the State to help fund cool transportation infrastructure projects over the next several years. None of these projects are a sure thing (yet) and many are several years in the future, but, I’m still pretty excited about plans to install permanent, concrete protection on the Franklin Street bike lane; extend the Patterson Avenue bike lane to Willow Lawn; and add two safe(r) crossings to Chamberlayne Avenue.
Patrick Larsen at VPM has a really interesting report on Virginia’s litter tax, which I did not even know was a thing until this morning. The Virginia Department of Taxation has more info on the tax, but “every Virginia manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor and retailer” of typically littered products must pay $20 per business location or $50 per business location that “manufactures, sells, or distributes groceries, soft drinks, or beer.” This is not a lot of tax, and Larsen reports that Richmond collected just $27,609 in FY 2023—not enough to do much of anything to combat all of the trash that ends up strewn about our neighborhoods and clogged up in our sewer infrastructure. Clean Virginia Waterways has a nice report on litter taxes from around the country if you’d like to learn more, and points to seven recommendations for the General Assembly to consider (p. 23) should they want to update the tax and make it more helpful in addressing the problem. Not included in those recommendations is “tax the heck out of the manufacturers creating all of this litter,” which is what I would do if I were in charge. Make it financially difficult to sell millions of plastic water bottles every year!
Mark your calendars! Breakaway RVA will host their July group ride this Thursday and will help you “discover Richmond's vibrant transportation past and pedal into the future as we learn about the city's historic canals, pioneering streetcar routes, innovative bus rapid transit, and more! All while enjoying RVA's best mode of transportation—your bike!” Breakaway RVA is a chill, lovely group bicycle ride for riders of almost every ability. I can’t recommend it enough, and, if you’ve never been before, I strongly recommend it. Meet at Pump House Park at 5:45 PM on Thursday, wheels up at 6:00 PM. Remember to bring some water!
Yesterday, NPR, like Nina Totenberg’s NPR, hosted GWAR on their Tiny Desk Concert series. GWAR opened with “Sex Cow” from their 1997 album Carnival of Chaos. Totally normal Richmond stuff!
This morning's longread
Summer is here. Where are the fireflies?
A concerning read about the impacts of climate change on fire flies. On a recent camping trip, I got out of my hammock in the middle of the night and was greeted by thousands of fire flies, in every direction, lighting up a pitch-black forest. It felt magical.
For many fireflies, there is a painful lack of data on even baseline populations. While some species remain abundant, overall, we risk the loss of firefly biodiversity. Despite the threats, no firefly species is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering petitions to safeguard five species, including the Bethany Beach firefly. While reversing climate change and other environmental threats is monumentally difficult, saving fireflies from light pollution is relatively easy. “You literally can just turn off the light, and the threat is gone.”
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Picture of the Day
Tree bones.
