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Michael G. wrote: I suspect that the real area of concern is that there is no
guarantee that what almost happened to Houston (and did happen to New Orleans)
won't happen again in a month or next year or the year after that and the year
after that... But no one can say that it seems. It seems that what
is not disputed is that the warmer ocean temperatures increased the intensity
of the hurricanes. So far the argument is whether they are more frequent. Given
Katrina and Rita were both 100-year storms arriving within 30 days of each
other, and climatologists warn that another major storm may be brewing off west
Africa to come ashore in October, that argument may be mute by Thanksgiving. On that note,
I think New Orleans will be rebuilt – once. If we continue to see more natural
disasters linked to climate change, we will be looking at more serious and
widespread long-term reevaluations. The Great Game
got much more intense after Katrina and Rita. Domestically, Congress will rush to
fund nuclear plants and drilling, neither of which would relieve the capacity
problem in the next 10 years. Smart money is on a Manhattan-style project to
develop alternative fuels to supplement traditional resources and a national
conservation plan, which saves much more and faster than anything else we could
do. If Congress
breaks free of the fossil fuel lobby, we could see a renewed interest in rail. The
airlines are going to be in further jeopardy. Regional
economists and planners have more reasons than ever to review development plans
that strengthen local economic networks, especially for food. “Food miles” are
already becoming critical in economies of scale, as the consumer’s purchasing
power declines. Wal Mart’s warning on upcoming earnings has more than a few
worried. If a
diversified energy formula is not computed quickly, it won’t matter whether we
have a short or longer recession, or even if the Iraqis achieve a ratified
constitution and elect their first independent legislature, and avoid regional
war. It will be guns vs butter very soon. Bush has lost the battle for hearts
and minds in continuing his war in Iraq.
Americans don’t buy Bush’s Iraq
war as a means for democracy. The war in Iraq has left Americans skeptical about the
use of military force as a tool to spread democracy, according to a poll
released on Thursday. Seventy-two percent of those
questioned said the conflict has made them feel worse about the use of military
force "to bring about democracy" down the road, compared to only 20
percent who said it made them feel better about such a prospect, the survey found. It also found that nearly three of every four Americans believe overthrowing
Iraq's government and trying to establish a democracy in its place was not a
good enough reason to go to war there. The survey did not address the question
of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"Most Americans do not appear to have been persuaded by President
George W. Bush's ... argument that promoting democracy is a critical means for
fighting terrorism and making the world safer," said Steven Kull, director
of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, a research group affiliated
with the University of Maryland, which worked with the Chicago Council on
Foreign Relations. (source: Associated Press via http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050929/pl_nm/iraq_poll_dc) |
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