After the heat waves in the Eastern U.S. and in Europe in June, we’re now having a second set of 2025 heat waves. This time in the Southeast, where Atlanta, Georgia recorded 100 F for the first time.  Another heatwave continues in the Southwest, where Phoenix has had 11 days in a row at 110 F and over, reaching 116 F on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

The Canadian forests continue burning, and the smoke has returned to the Northeast and Midwest, reaching down to Texas.

My family in Iowa tell me that, in recent years, wildfires have started burning up corn fields. They say Iowans have learned to tell by the smell whether a farmer’s field is burning or a forest is burning.

In our north Sound region, records at Paine Field in Everett show we had less than 1/10th  of an inch of rain each week for 11 straight weeks from May 21 to last Wednesday, Aug. 6.

Each year, from 2000 to 2024, in the first seven months of the year, we had between 82 and 140 days with no rain, according to NOAA data. This year, in January through July, we had 164.  In those months from 2000 to 2024, we had between 72 and 130 days with rain.  This year we had 48.

This lack of rain is part of why the Snohomish County Fire Marshal declared a stage 1 outdoor burn ban for Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and other cities in Snohomish.  See the Fire Marshal’s website for details.

On average, we have lost one day of rain (from January through July) each year from 2000 to 2025 and added one more day of no rain.

Wishful Thinking

In Washington D.C., federal employees recently declared that global warming won’t harm people. I really wish that were true. I think everyone wishes that were the case.

Most Americans (69%) recognize that global warming will hurt people. A total of 54% recognize that people are worsening climate change, and 60% wish our state governments were doing more to stop climate change.

Progress in Edmonds-Lynnwood-MLT

Every three months, I report in this column how things are going locally for electric vehicles and heat pumps. Pretty much every report has been about how things are improving. This month is no different.

Last year, the portion of new vehicle purchases that were electric rose 7% from 14.9% in April-June 2024 to 16% in April-June 2025, according to the Washington State Department of Licensing.  The portion of registered vehicles that were electric rose 34% from 3.1% to 4.1%. And the EV portion of used vehicle sales rose 32% from 3% to 4%.

Tesla

Tesla sales reached a peak in 2023, and Tesla has been losing market share ever since the introduction of the Cybertruck. Overall, new EV sales grew only 7% to 2025, because Tesla’s market share dropped 20%.

It will be helpful if Tesla pulls out of this decline.

The other coming news is that Jeff Bezos has backed the start of a new company, Slate, which announced in April that it will provide an electric SUV for $27,000 by end of 2026.  There’s been a little confusion as the $7,500 federal rebate has been taken away. Some folks thought that Slate was selling their truck for under $20,000 before the rebate. It’s a good deal, but their price is not that low.

Rebates Gone by October

If you have not yet bought your EV, now is a good time. The $7,500 rebate on leases and new cars (and up to $4,000 on used cars) will continue through September. Then it’s gone.

Several of my friends tell me they got the $7,500 rebate by leasing.

The rebate on used cars is 30% of the price up to $4,000. That is also going away Oct. 1.

Charging Away from Home

Most people who drive electric vehicles only charge their cars and trucks at home. If you live in an apartment or condo that does not yet have EV charging, or if you go for a road trip, you’ll need to charge at public charging stations. As far as I can tell from talking to local drivers, charging away from home is currently the biggest EV hassle.

Tesla owners can ask their cars to find a charger for them. If you own a Tesla, you should understand that the onboard charging station finder only finds Tesla charging stations.  There are many other places to charge.

For finding where to charge, PlugShare is a great resource. I’ve used PlugShare for a while, and I keep discovering new useful features.  PlugShare reports ratings of different charging stations. The stations that get low ratings cannot be relied on. You can set PlugShare filters to only show stations with ratings over 7, or even over 9.

PlugShare reports how many plugs each station has. The more plugs there are, the more likely it is that a plug is available when you get there. PlugShare also reports how many plugs are currently charging other vehicles.

PlugShare shows how fast each station can charge your EV. PlugShare reports the kilowatts (“kW”) that each station can provide. For your EV, you can learn what you multiply by to translate that into miles of range added every five minutes. A helpful resource about charging speeds is EV-adept’s EV charging time calculator.

Drivers who charge at stations leave comments on PlugShare about how well the charging went. Part of what those comments tell you is how the station is working right now. If someone left a positive comment this morning, that’s a good sign that the station is up and running today. If the last comment was from 2022, that’s concerning that the station is no longer in business.

Charging away from home is getting easier all the time. New stations are being added all the time. The 2025 models can charge quickly. For road trips, charging is a chance to get out of the car and stretch your legs. Sitting continuously for hours is not healthy. If you live in an apartment or condo, you will be able to find somewhere to charge while you do weekly errands, like the chargers at WinCo on Highway 99.

The current federal government is slowing down the transition away from global warming pollution. The longer we take getting away from climate change pollution, the worse the consequences. It would be ideal to switch as fast as possible, but each of us can only do what we can do. Luckily, there is a lot we can do to electrify our lives and to support leadership changes in the 2026 elections.

Nick Maxwell is a certified climate action planner at Climate Protection NW, teaches about climate protection at the Creative Retirement Institute and serves on the Edmonds Planning Board.