The #2 story on the front page right now is “A photo survey of the blackboards of mathematicians.”

Maybe front page rank isn’t about how important or pressing the story is?

1) Hacker News ranking isn't about "what is more important/pressing right now" to a global audience. This is about what's interesting for the hacker audience at this moment.

2) It's generally frowned upon to comment about "why isn't this story getting more upvotes", etc. In other words, it's not adding value to the conversation, so please refrain from doing so and use the upvote/flagging features if you feel outraged something isn't getting the attention it deserves.

3) If you don't like something on the frontpage then don't upvote it. Simple.

4) I don't live in SV, but many people who are "Hackers" do. The article specifically targets tech companies who have offices in SV and are impacting the environment.