Laguna’s eco-party boat heading for the falls?

At first glance it was a normal summer day in Laguna Beach. Bronzed surfers cradled short boards and ran barefoot across Coast Highway.

They had that giddy, reckless look with wide, crooked smiles and floppy hair.

Envious drivers just stared and shook their heads, wondering how to quit their day jobs.

But here’s the rub: It was not June or July. It was Sunday, Nov. 1, and a feels-like 84 degrees. The water temp was about 72. No wetsuits, no crowds, no worries.

It’s no secret that the entire month of October was epic along Southern California’s Riviera. So for residents frustrated by the summer tourist crush, this was our reward.

But amid the perfect conditions, there was an undeniable backdrop of environmental concern for anyone who reads headlines. There were reasons for this historic month that no one wants to admit for fear of ruining the party.

The ongoing climate changes are creating paradises in some areas but deserts in others. Parts of the Middle East, for example, are being told to brace for unlivable temperatures in the not-too-distant future.

But in Laguna, climate change is good for business.

“We’ve been operating quite well because of the weather,” said Billy Fried, owner of the stand-up paddle board shop La Vida Laguna. “It’s been great for business. But there is this dichotomy of knowing that with this great weather also portends a greater issue, which is drought.”

Fried, who is also a radio host on KX93.5 and a commentator on local issues, is concerned about the environmental impacts. He doesn’t see people changing their behavior fast enough or cities leading by example.

“Bittersweet is a good word for me in terms of how I feel about the business,” he said. “And I think it’s true for all the tourism-related businesses in Laguna. Certainly we’re the beneficiaries of this great weather we’re having.

“And it’s wonderful to be out on the ocean when the water is warm but the unintended consequences, of course, is the kelp is gone. And that’s a really important thing because kelp signifies a healthy ocean.”

Despite efforts to revitalize the local kelp beds, the recent environmental changes have decimated the marine reserve, he said. There have been other hits to the ecosystem, including mass die-offs of starfish and urchin.

Meanwhile, it’s all good in Laguna popular culture. It’s as if we quietly want to ignore the realities because we fight so hard the other nine months out of the year: the gridlock, noise and sheer density of outsiders.

“Nobody talks about it here,” Fried said. “They all talk about how great the weather is and how great the surf is. It’s easy to be caught up in the everyday bliss of living here with endless, gorgeous days and warm water, but reality tells a different story and it’s not a good thing.”

For people of a certain age, environmentalism was always more idealistic than realistic. If you recycled, that was enough. You were doing good. More than that, there was a hubris of invincibility. We were taught in schools that the earth would die only when the sun died in 5 billion years.

Nowadays, scientists say we’re about to lose Antarctica.

Fried said he’s losing hope locally. He went to Italy recently and was struck again by how much conservation is embedded into their culture. They sustain by nature. The only thing Americans can sustain is consumption.

“You go to other places and you see the level of conservation that they have,” he said. “Every single public light is on a timer. They generate a quarter, if that, of the trash that we generate. They drive smaller cars. The scale in which we consume in this country is just disgusting. It’s unbelievable.”

It’s trendy now to have graphics mailed out to Laguna residents showing our water consumption. Water is part of it, but there’s so much more. There’s fundamental changes to the ways we commute, design our infrastructure or create more pedestrian friendly live-work environments.

But in Laguna, every effort — major or minor — is seemingly thwarted. We can’t even test the closure of Forest Avenue for a week to see if it improves the downtown.

“I’m really down on the City Council because they don’t do anything,” Fried said. “It’s going to take a benevolent dictator in this town to get something done. You can’t kowtow to all these different special interests.”

In his business role, Fried sees the environmental impacts daily.

“What I’ve been telling people is the earth is on fire. It’s just been so hot. I’ve heard more and more people — and ironically young people — being diagnosed with skin cancer. So I think there is a high toll or a heavy cost associated with this continuing pattern of great weather we’ve had.”

Fried believes that the residents and officials of Laguna need to take a more active leadership role before it’s too late.

“It’s going to take something dire to wake people up, I’m afraid. In our lifetime, I think we’re going to see major relocation of people, maybe not in our country, but I think there’s going to be diasporas in lands that are going to be choked because of no water or no food. It’s going to be horrendous, like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”

Even with all this potential for chaos, we live in a bubble in Laguna.

“The surfers will be out even when there’s an apocalypse. If the ocean is on fire but there’s waves, they’ll get out there,” Fried said. “It also allows us Lagunans to continue to roll down the river in the party boat, having a great time and not acknowledging that there is a waterfall straight ahead.”

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at [email protected].