Will California succumb to the fault line?

A temperature check from the Central Valley

Back in October 2023—a lifetime ago, that is—I wrote about my appreciation for The Polycrisis newsletter. Now in January 2025, that phrase has been bouncing around in my head again, for obvious reasons. Is the Golden State, covered in ash, in a polycrisis, distinct from that which came before? Here, to be clear, I’m not referring to the dangers associated with maintaining multiple romantic relationships (though those, too, are acutely felt by many out west), but rather “a state where multiple crises intertwine, their causes and processes inextricably bound together to create compounded effects.”

It certainly feels like our challenges are both heightened and more closely linked than ever before, a phenomenon certainly not unique to California. But this is the state I’ve called home for more than a decade, and which I am still barely getting to know. So join me, if you’d like, for a brief trip down the 99.

Also, hi. Welcome back. Happy new year. Things are weirder and worse in a lot of ways, and I’m feeling like I want to start writing again—maybe a post per month?—to process parts of what I’m seeing from my new vantage point in the heart of California’s croplands. For the record, I love my job and am learning a lot there, but nothing I’ll write here will be connected with my work responsibilities, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.¹

While not exactly my neighborhood go-to, this Catholic church across the street from my apartment does, I believe, capture some of the best of what this state can be: multilingual services in gorgeous architecture.

Earth

The work climate for this year is decidedly one of fear. From federal workers to grant-dependent non-profit employees, from corporate DEI officers to fruit pickers, tens of millions of Americans are facing unprecedented insecurity on the job. The stakes differ, of course, with class and immigration status. Following just one pre-Trump² deportation operation in Kern County, farms throughout California reported upwards of 3/4 of their employees not showing up. Empty grocery stores, gas stations, and the like accompanied.

It’s possible that ICE and the agricultural lobby will come to a compromise in the coming months and the threat of workplace raids, at least in some areas, will diminish. It’s also possible that fruit will rot on the vines this summer, while farmers’ “TRUMP VANCE 2024 - THANK YOU” signs bear silent witness. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but it will likely involve bringing in far more temporary H-2A visa workers, under even worse conditions than usual.

I don’t have anything original to add here; this is just very heavy. And I think it is not classist to feel anger towards people who purported to care about lowering food prices while voting for mass deportations (and tariffs, probably). Oh, and bless all y’all doing removal defense, know-your-rights, etc.

Wind

I’ve been watching clips of RFK Jr.’s nomination process with horror. But whether he or another crank is installed as HHS Secretary, the federal government will not be a friend—and may be an active foe—to public health for years to come. What better time for a potential pandemic to be brewing?

The majority of California’s 1,100+ dairies are under quarantine, their livestock ravaged by the H5N1 strain of bird flu which can kill up to 15% of infected cows. Millions of chickens and other birds have been killed to prevent spread. And at least one person has died, with several others seriously hospitalized by this novel influenza. All this and the CDC has been ordered to stop public briefings about a virus which has experts worrying out loud about mutations which might enable human-to-human spread with high mortality rates.

I remember driving past the Grand Princess cruise ship, docked in Oakland with thousands of people on board under quarantine in April 2020. It was an eerie, awesome sight to behold from the Bay Bridge, not yet realizing that Covid was already well-entrenched in California. I feel similarly driving past the dairies of Tulare County today, wondering if the workers inside are being given PPE, tests, information about risks to their health and family…you get it.

These red cards—printed by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and distributed by any number of immigrant rights’ orgs—have quickly become a currency of hope; it seems they might be useful, too.

Fire

Finally, consider working outside in Los Angeles or Ventura counties in recent weeks. When the AQI tops 150 (unhealthy for all groups),³ employers are supposed to at least provide masks, but the worst effects of urban fire smoke—inhaling lead, for example—often aren’t captured in air quality scans. As of January 1, California does allow workers to take sick leave to avoid wildfire smoke, but I somewhat doubt there’s been widespread uptake on that allowance as of yet. As I’ve written about before, it’s difficult enough for workers to exercise their right to take a day off during natural disasters.

We’re in an era, then, in which wildfire season is now year round, we could have multiple world-shaking pandemics per decade, and the top priority of the new administration is punishing some of the people most impacted by these and other crises. In other words, Newsom’s hopes to Trump-proof California are best read as rhetorical, even if AG Bonta wins some lawsuits.

Perhaps this is all too doom and gloom. As always, there are lots of good people working to take the edge off of the elements causing people to fear separation from their families, sickness, and loss of homes and lives. I’ll try and focus more on those stories going forward; we’re going to need them.

Thanks for reading, whether you’re a longtime supporter (hi, Dad) or a new Fresno friend. And kudos to anyone who connected the title of this scribbling to this somewhat obscure track. Be back with more (hopefully…) in a month or so!

1. Please let me know if you think I’m skirting too close to the line at any point.

2. As many have pointed out, Biden’s record on the border was atrocious, and I agree. But it seems undeniable that we are undergoing a seismic shift—both quantitatively and qualitatively—for the worse, on this and so many other issues.

3. The Air Quality Index tracks PM 2.5 particles, those that are most damaging to human health. I’m sensitive, but mornings above 50 here give me headaches, so I really can’t stomach the idea of working outside for hours even well under 150.