President Bush AND THE HURRICANE
WEATHER
Here's the Story of a Hurricane
In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked a major hurricane strike
on New Orleans as "among the three likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing
this country," directly behind a terrorist strike on New York City. Yesterday,
disaster struck. One of the strongest storms in recorded history rocked the Gulf
Coast, bringing 145 mph winds and floods of up to 20 feet. One million residents
were evacuated; at least 65 are confirmed dead. Tens of thousands of homes were
completely submerged. Mississippi's governor reported "catastrophic damage on
all levels." Downtown New Orleans buildings were "imploding," a fire chief said.
Oil surged past $70 a barrel. New Orleanians were grimly asking each other, "So,
where did you used to live?" (To donate to Red Cross disaster relief, click here
or call 1-800-HELP-NOW). While it happened, President Bush decided to ...
continue his vacation, stopping by the Pueblo El Mirage RV and Golf Resort in El
Mirage, California, to hawk his Medicare drug benefit plan. On Sunday, President
Bush said, "I want to thank all the folks at the federal level and the state
level and the local level who have taken this storm seriously." He's not one of
them. Below, the Progress Report presents "How Not to Prepare for a Massive
Hurricane," by President Bush, congressional conservatives, and their corporate
special interest allies.
SLASH SPENDING ON HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS IN NEW ORLEANS: Two months ago,
President Bush took an ax to budget funds that would have helped New Orleans
prepare for such a disaster. The New Orleans branch of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers suffered a "record $71.2 million" reduction in federal funding, a 44.2
percent reduction from its 2001 levels. Reports at the time said that thanks to
the cuts, "major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to
local engineering firms. ... Also, a study to determine ways to protect the
region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now." (Too bad Louisiana
isn't a swing state. In the aftermath of Hurricane Frances -- and the run-up to
the 2004 election -- the Bush administration awarded $31 million in disaster
relief to Florida residents who didn't even experience hurricane damage.)
DESTROY NATURAL HURRICANE PROTECTIONS: The Gulf Coast wetlands form a "natural
buffer that helps protect New Orleans from storms," slowing hurricanes down as
they approach from sea. When he came into office, President Bush pledged to
uphold the "no net loss" wetland policy his father initiated. He didn't keep his
word. Bush rolled back tough wetland policies set by the Clinton administration,
ordering federal agencies "to stop protecting as many as 20 million acres of
wetlands and an untold number of waterways nationwide." Last year, four
environmental groups issued a joint report showing that administration policies
had allowed "developers to drain thousands of acres of wetlands." The result?
New Orleans may be in even greater danger: "Studies show that if the wetlands
keep vanishing over the next few decades, then you won't need a giant storm to
devastate New Orleans -- a much weaker, more common kind of hurricane could
destroy the city too."
GUT THE AGENCY TASKED WITH DEVELOPING HURRICANE RESPONSES: Forward-thinking
federal plans with titles like "Issues and Options in Flood Hazards Management,"
"Floods: A National Policy Concern," and "A Framework for Flood Hazards
Management" would be particularly valuable in a time of increasingly intense
hurricanes. Unfortunately, the agency that used to produce them -- the Office of
Technology Assessment (OTA) -- was gutted by Gingrich conservatives several
years ago. As Chris Mooney (who presciently warned of the need to bulk up
hurricane defenses in New Orleans last May) noted yesterday, "If we ever return
to science-based policymaking based on professionalism and expertise, rather
than ideology, an office like OTA would be very useful in studying how best to
save a city like New Orleans -- and how Congress might consider appropriating
money to achieve this end."
SEND OUR FIRST RESPONDERS TO FIGHT A WAR OF CHOICE: National Guard and Reserve
soldiers are typically on the front lines responding to disasters like Katrina
-- that is, if they're not fighting in Iraq. Roughly 35 percent of Louisiana's
National Guard is currently deployed in Iraq, where guardsmen and women make up
about four of every 10 soldiers. Additionally, "Dozens of high water vehicles,
humvees, refuelers and generators" used by the Louisiana Guard are also tied up
abroad. "The National Guard needs that equipment back home to support the
homeland security mission," Louisiana National Guard Lt. Colonel Pete Schneider
told reporters earlier this month. "Recruitment is down dramatically, mostly
because prospective recruits are worried about deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan
or another country," the AP reported recently. "I used to be able to get about
eight people a month," said National Guard 1st Sgt. Derick Young, a New Orleans
recruiter. "Now, I'm lucky if I can get one."
HELP FUEL GLOBAL WARMING: Severe weather occurrences like hurricanes and heat
waves already take hundreds of lives and cause millions in damages each year. As
the Progress Report has noted, data increasingly suggest that human-induced
global warming is making these phenomena more dangerous and extreme than ever.
"The hurricane that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by the
National Weather Service," science author Ross Gelbspan writes. "Its real name
is global warming." AP reported recently on a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology analysis that shows that "major storms spinning in both the Atlantic
and the Pacific ... have increased in duration and intensity by about 50
percent" since the 1970s, trends that are "closely linked to increases in the
average temperatures of the ocean surface and also correspond to increases in
global average atmospheric temperatures during the same period." Yet just last
week, as Katrina was gathering steam and looming over the Gulf, the Bush
administration released new CAFE standards that actually encourage automakers to
produce bigger, less fuel efficient vehicles, while preventing states from
taking strong, progressive action to reverse global warming. |
