July 22, 2013

Why Won’t This Cat Answer My Questions About Climate Change?

Mayor Stubbs relaxes outside of West Rib Pub & Grille in Talkeetna, AK.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12247055@N00/186866983/">the queen of subtle</a>/Flickr


When I visited Alaska last week, much of the state was still reeling from June’s stunning heat wave, featuring numerous record temperatures. That includes 96 degrees in Talkeetna, a bustling tourist town near the base of 20,320-foot-high Mount McKinley (or Denali), featuring gift shops overflowing with moose and bear paraphernalia, restaurants overflowing with salmon and King crabs…and one feline elected official, longtime incumbent @MayorStubbs, who has gotten more than his share of media attention.

Despite the fact that their state is suffering from extreme climate change—Alaska has warmed twice as fast as the lower 48, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency—Alaska politicians haven’t always led on this matter. Sarah Palin, for instance, is a notorious climate change denier. But I hoped Mayor Stubbs might be different. After all, he’s extremely outspoken on Twitter, e.g.:

So naturally, as my fiancée and I drove south through scenic Alaska on our way to Anchorage, and neared Talkeetna, I figured I’d try the Mayor out on the subject of climate change. After all, 96 degrees in his hometown might be considered rather worrisome. First, I tried flattery:

At the West Rib Pub & Grille, my fiancée learns about Mayor Stubbs.

Alas, this Tweet didn’t garner a quick reply.

What’s more, when we stopped at the restaurant that serves as one of the Mayor’s haunts—West Rib Pub & Grille—the feline official was nowhere to be found, though documentation of his existence was plentiful (see image). Our friendly waitress explained that Mayor Stubbs was the owner’s cat, but the owner wasn’t in at the moment.

Thus instead of an interview, all I got was a cut finger from being far too careless with some King crab legs. (“Deadliest Catch” indeed.)

Later that night, however, came a coy Tweet from the Mayor:

This was not exactly a “yes” to my request. Next, I appealed to the Mayor’s sense of civic duty:

This didn’t work either:

This left me scratching my head, and wondering whether hot, sunny days might actually be good for Talkeetna, which is chilly much of the year:

One can only conclude, then, that perhaps the Mayor has bigger fish to fry. Or eat.

Or eat before they’re fried by climate change.

UPDATE: Mayor Stubbs responds!

And again:

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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