ModeShift | At the Frontlines of the Global Transition

Water Could Make Michigan The Place To Be Later This Century

by Keith SchneiderFebruary 26, 2021February 26, 20210

TRAVERSE CITY, MI –Intrigued by warming winters, researchers from the University of Michigan set out in 1989 to formally measure changes in the geographical distribution of plants and animals in the dense pine and hardwood forests of northern Michigan. Their laboratory, the university’s 10,000-acre Biological Station east of Petoskey, had advanced forestry and natural sciences since the field station’s founding in 1909. Few projects, though, attracted the same level of attention as the migration research. Completed in …

Like Developing Nations, Texas Confronts Lingering Water Crisis

by Keith SchneiderFebruary 26, 2021February 26, 20210

By Saturday, as the deep freeze lifted and temperatures across Texas warmed to near normal for this time of year, water poured from broken lines beneath streets. Fountains of water sprayed from valves and cracks in building exteriors. Indoor waterfalls spilled from caved-in ceilings in schools and homes and hospitals. Homeowners gathered up the last remnants of melting snow and stored them in buckets and bathtubs. “Where do you want to start?” said Ty Edwards, …

Reactionary Republican Berserk Behavior In and Outside of Michigan

by Keith SchneiderJanuary 30, 2021January 31, 20210

The virus of berserk behavior sickening the Republican Party generated a fresh outbreak of absurd and pathetic conduct by public officers in my home region of Northwest Michigan. First it was Ron Clous, a Republican Grand Traverse County Commissioner, who responded to an appeal by a constituent to formally reject the Proud Boys by brandishing an assault rifle during a virtual County Commission meeting on January 20. Then it was Rob Hentchsel, the Republican commission …

Joe Biden, Displaying Courage and Urging Unity, Takes Command of a Chastened Nation

by Keith SchneiderJanuary 20, 2021January 21, 20211

SOMERSET, KY. — The English translation to the Shehechiyanu, my favorite Hebrew prayer, commends “our God, Ruler of the Universe, who grants us life, sustains us, and enables us to reach this day.” The prayer (Sha-heck-key-yaanu ) was on my lips as President Joe Biden was sworn into office today. It was followed by shrieks and shouts as I hugged my wife, clasped hands with my brother-in-law, and bellowed my joy into the streets of …

Amazon Air Fills Skies and Airports With Packages

by Keith SchneiderJanuary 16, 2021January 16, 20210

HEBRON, Ky. – Since the pandemic started nearly a year ago, 15,000 fewer people arrive and depart daily from CVG, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Yet the 60 percent drop in passenger traffic is not nearly so apparent on the four runways, miles of taxiways, and hundreds of acres of concrete apron handling record amounts of air cargo — nearly 4,000 tons a day. Ranked by the Federal Aviation Administration as the nation’s sixth largest cargo …

1/6/21: Day of Progress Shifts To A Calamitous Siege

by Keith SchneiderJanuary 7, 2021January 11, 20211

January 6, 2021. Forevermore the national calendar of unforgettable days will include 1/6/21. It started as a day to be truly pleased to be an American, and proud of America. An African American preacher and a young Jewish documentary filmmaker, both Georgia Democrats, were elected to the U.S. Senate. In tilting the upper chamber to Democrats, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff pushed Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell out of the majority leadership and made President Joe …

Thank You LeBron James For The Best of 2020

by Keith SchneiderDecember 31, 2020February 8, 20210

SOMERSET, KY – The epic story of the 2020 election is easy to frame. Restraint vs. belligerence. Decency vs. desolation. Competence vs. laziness. Truth vs. lies. Joe Biden won because the majority of voters chose the former over the latter. His victory was a rebuke of all Trump’s ruinous political tendencies and sadistic personal behavior. Other prominent figures, among them Kamala Harris, also represented the values most Americans hold for qualified and sympathetic leaders. Still, in …

2021 Will Be Better; The 2020s Will be Great

by Keith SchneiderDecember 27, 2020December 28, 20200

There really is not a way to hit on a word, or even an assembly of words, to adequately encompass the tough, dangerous, and ultimately exceptional year that 2020 has been. Next year will be better. And the 2020s promise to be a decade of real progess. During this decade technology and ecology will marry more firmly than ever to produce pathbreaking achievements in sectors that really matter— energy, transportation, agriculture, climate, resources, and manufacturing. …

Trump’s Big Lie Like Other Big Lies – They Exact A Cost

by Keith SchneiderDecember 12, 2020December 12, 20200

BENZONIA — So here we are weeks from the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice president. A viral disease is infecting over 200,000 Americans and killing nearly 3,000 of us daily. A manic, insane sitting president remains in office, unmoved by the pandemic and acting out the anarchic farce that he won the election. The most charitable assessment is that the weeks since the election revealed, certainly for the majority …

Benzie County’s Summer and Fall COVID Tourist Economy – Surprise! – Was Very Strong

by Keith SchneiderDecember 5, 2020December 19, 20200

BENZONIA — On May 15, persuaded that COVID-19 infections and deaths were convincingly low, Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) lifted the executive order that for eight weeks had closed most businesses in Benzie and neighboring Northern Michigan counties. Six months later, as COVID-19 infections and deaths mounted as never before in Benzie and the rest of the state, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reinstated parts of the shutdown—calling for a three-week “pause”—from November …