Those nutty liberals actually weren't so wacky after all.
Hmm, maybe environmental issues really do affect society. By golly, maybe it's not crazy to talk about what causes catastrophic weather events and responses we might take.
Nah, who am I kidding. It's only people, property, and historic places all over America we're talking about. Nothin' worth taxing people to protect.
3 comments:
Nate--Just for fun take a look at the NOAA website.
You'll see that the 1890's were more vicious than now, weatherwise.
I think its funny that liberals think anything man does will have any impact on storm formation or strength.
The only difference between then and now? You can actually see homes being flooded and VW bugs being rolled down the streets by the wind from the comfort of your living room.
Oh, the humanity!
Charles
I must admit, I was baiting this kind of comment. Sorry :)
My point is that, for a variety of reasons, a lot of people think that if an environmental problem isn't directly caused by man, we should simply ignore it as a problem. Do I think that global climate change increases the possibility that flooding and hurricanes will cause damage to the Eastern and Southern US? Yes, I do.
But apart from that issue, New Orleans in particular faces very serious and direct threats from mother nature herself, and from our response to nature. First, she's largely below sea level. Second, she's almost entirely surrounded by water. Third, flooding from the Mississippi river is a huge "problem", depending on your perspective, for areas southwest of New Orleans, so giant levees have been built to regulate the river. Well, that shifts where silt gets deposited and traps water that comes in from the east and the north, intensifying potential hurricane damage. Fourth, huge swaths of coastal wetlands have been destroyed. Not only can we debate the ecological and tourism value of coastal wetlands, but there's also the value they have in protecting human centers of population and culture because they sap hurricane energy and lessen storm surges.
The main contention of the American Prospect article (with which I agree) is that these are seious issues that should be discussed and addressed publicly in a larger context, not simply debated among academics and policy experts. In particular, the recent Tsunami in the Indian Ocean demonstrates that natural forces continue to be important parts of human planning; or, if they're not, humans suffer for that lack of planning.
I, along with a number of scientists and even military programs, think that humans can and do affect climate in some manner. But it is also our response to climate that is important; that response is part of environmental policy. Personally, I very much enjoy visiting New Orleans, so I place a high value on the preservation of the city. Others would not value it as highly. Finding a balance in peaceful and public discourse is democracy in action.
But to me, the people who advocate doing nothing about environmental issues simply because we didn't directly cause them are defeatists and obstructionists, or, in some cases, opposed to organized democratic governance. It's like saying we as a society shouldn't discuss health issues since we're not directly responsible for a lot of the diseases that afflict us and claiming victimhood status when actions we do take increase or decrease the chances that something bad or good will happen.
Nate--Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. Didn't your Missouri boy say that?
Why not move New Orleans up to Branson? In fact, let's move everyone off the coast. That way it will only be a few salt marshes and oyster beds wiped out instead of multi-million dollar homes during the next big blow.
I think its hubris to think anyone can see out there far enough and think through all of the unintended consequences to combat anything natural. So what if levees are creating effluvia out in the Gulf? Haven't beavers been doing that for milennia?
Do you really think a non-partisan discussion can happen? I doubt it. Isn't this a lot like the windmills out there in the ocean that Teddy K. and his ilk are fighting? The whole NIMBY thing?
Anyway, to stop hurricane damage, we need to repopulate places like Iowa and Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas. It's pretty safe there except for the odd tornadoes.
Didn't Pat and Jerry want New Orleans cleansed from the map anyway, since it was in Gomorrah's zip code?
I live on a barrier island, so if my homestead gets carried out to sea, it's my own damned fault.
Charles
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