Katrina the Wake-up Call

I don't believe in a vengeful god, or any god that shares the less desirable qualities of humans. But it's difficult to look at a force as powerful as nature and not immediately feel small and vulnerable, utterly human. If Nature and the earth are Divine forces, as indigenous people once believed, you can't help but wonder if there is truly an apocalypse brewing down in the Gulf, and who might survive this revenge of Nature.

As these storms become more frequent, and violent in intensity, as the warming of the planet threatens extinction to many species of birds and fish, as forests are cut down making way for another suburb and a strip mall, the realization that there is a delicate balance in the ecosystem completely escapes us. We never for one moment think that the elimination of one species is the loss of a food source for another species, we are never troubled unless the threatened animal is something cute like a Koala bear, or a penguin. I've wondered in these past few years, why these warnings have fallen on deaf ears, and that no one in the US will connect the dots between these increasingly turbulent weather patterns, and climate change. How devastating must these storms become before the issue of limiting emissions is addressed? Do we have to lose a city like New Orleans first?

And isn't it ironic that the people left to brave the storm were the people who had no automobiles, the ones who had in no way contributed to the things that heat the planet?

I was listening briefly to CNN, and I heard one of the talking heads saying that the state government will prosecute any business that engages in price gouging during the emergencies. The very next segment reported that oil had risen to $70 a barrel, and I wondered why Exxon didn't have to comply with the emergency measures. Is there a shortage already? And haven't they already reported profits of 25 billion? Am I wrong, or is that the same thing as price gouging?

It may be too late to save Florida and New Orleans, but it's not too late to save the planet, even though we might just make it by the skin of our teeth. Congress is back next week, so I'm pretty sure that the first thing on the agenda will be emissions controls. The possibility of losing a major city is not enough to make them come back for an emergency session, after all, it's not a brain-dead woman about to die, it's only New Orleans.

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