In 1966 or so, sitting in the kitchen of the Pico Cottage in Mentryville, I heard the first mention of climate change. The conversation started with a Standard Oil geologist stating that soon, possibly within our lifetimes, a new ice age would start. I guess he missed that prediction just a little bit.

Climate change is what our planet does. We know the polar ice caps weren’t there during most of the age of dinosaurs. We know there was a “mini” ice age during colonial times right here in what became the USA. We know those events weren’t caused by mankind’s puny efforts at pollution. We also know the last major ice age caused sea levels to drop and maybe even helped form the land bridge that the first native Americans crossed from what is now Asia.

I’m not going to get into a debate about the efficacy of the current climate change theories. Of course I can still laugh at Gov. “Moonbeam” Brown saying it will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to move LAX to keep it out of the 4-foot rise in sea level. Hey, Gov. Moonbeam: LAX is already more than 100 feet above the current sea level. Almost as funny as the “high speed train” that will take as long to go from San Francisco to Los Angeles as driving your own car does now.

The path of the high-speed rail system scares me and many residents of the SCV. Do we really want a bullet train going 200 mph only 100 feet from an elementary school?

I love train travel. Along about 1956, we kids in the first grade at Castaic Union Elementary School got to go to Saugus Station (in Saugus still) and board a passenger train bound for Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. I still remember that ride. We got to roam all over the cars.

Upon arrival in Los Angeles, we walked over to Olvera Street and had a little lunch. Got to see the historic area, then we boarded our school buses to return to Castaic.

After my father died, my mother decided we should take the train to visit relatives in the Midwest. For that, we took the Santa Fe Super Chief as far as Kansas City. What a great experience. Remembering that and having been on an Amtrak train, I must say a government-run train with paper plates and plastic utensils is a far cry from what the old Santa Fe Super Chief offered.

We expect the California High Speed Rail system to be better? Maybe we should look at some other government-run services … the Affordable Care Act, Veterans health care, Amtrak, and my least favorite local agency, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.

Back to climate change. I don’t remember it being so humid in the SCV when I was growing up. I’ve been told the tree planting throughout the valley has helped create a “micro climate” that has increased our humidity levels. I think that is good, as long as we don’t have the humidity of Nebraska or Washington, D.C., and most of the Southeast. I can still get out of a swimming pool and be dry in a few minutes.

I really think our change in humidity is a man-made change. Of course, when we run out of water for the trees, we will have a lot of firewood in a very short time. And the humidity levels will return to the old single-digit numbers.

So maybe man has had something to do with climate changes. Like all the cattle flatulence in the “vast herds” of cattle in the flyover Midwestern states adds to the carbon footprint. You know, there were, at one time, about 50 times or more bison in those states than cattle now.

Like my recent commentary on Newhall Land getting ready to build homes west of Interstate 5 and south of Highway 126. People will have opinions all over the place. I do want to correct a few folks who have commented on that little item:

1) The proposed development is well outside the city limits of Santa Clarita, so don’t blame City Council for this development.

2) I loved the old stores and shopping we did have in the SCV prior to Valencia. That wasn’t the point. Can you imagine Valencia or development in that area without a comprehensive plan? Can we say, San Fernando Valley?

3) Howard and Phil’s Western Wear was a financial flop, which could explain the defense budgets coming from the House Armed Services Committee chaired by Howard.

Next time I promise to write about something else. This was a rambling little thing today, but what do you expect on a Sunday? I’ll be ready for Saturday tomorrow.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com and his commentaries are archived at DManzer.com. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].