Maybe you are asking why the editor of your small-town newspaper is writing about atomic bombs, endless war and climate change. Doesn’t he know that La Conner is far away from everywhere else? Doesn’t he like this idyllic little town? What part of local doesn’t he get?

It is because I get local that I write editorials. The record-breaking dry spell is both front page and local news. The national news of the federal interagency report detailing significant effects of climate change in the United States now is cause for concern here in La Conner.

What am I going to do since it is not a...