Prince and Earth Day

 As far as I know, Prince and Earth Day have virtually nothing in common.  If the iconoclastic singer, songwriter, provocateur had any color in mind it was purple, not green.  Earth Day, while something of a counter-culture spectacle, at least in its earliest incarnation, is and was a more dour manifestation of the late 20th century America.  But here we are, celebrating Mother Nature and mourning one of her baddest boys.  For myself, Prince was another manifestation of the annoying 80s.  Culturally and musically, the 80s were foreign to those of us with small children, large debt and jobs that demanded our full attention.  Reagan's presidency was anathema to those of us who came of age in the late 60s and by association, most of the music made in that decade was suspect.  Of course, if you listened to music on the radio or sampled the new fangled videos on MTV, you couldn't avoid Prince's top 40 hits.  Songs like Purple Rain, Little Red Corvette and 1999 were ear worms that will probably survive long after their author.  The confused sexual identity and salaciousness of his lyrics and persona alternately attracted and repelled me.  He definitely influenced many people in my generation as well as our progeny.  Meanwhile, the Paris climate accords are being signed today with hope and trepidation.  The US has pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 25% over the next decade.  The lynchpin of the policy which will enable the reduction is curbing power plant emissions.  Basically, this means eliminating coal from its principal use which is electric power production.  Thanks to Republican party controlled states, the entire accord could be nullified in this country after the Supreme Court agreed to stay the EPA from enforcing the new climate parameters.  Some things never change...