The America-hating commies at, uh, BusinessWeek have a must-read article on Katrina and the implications for U.S. policy.
The major lesson policymakers should draw from the catastrophe is just how vulnerable the U.S. is becoming to natural disasters and energy disruptions. In fact, some experts say, Americans have been mistakenly lulled into thinking terrorism is the most pressing threat -- and they argue that the relentless focus on staving off suicide bombers has left crucial gaps elsewhere.
Here are their policy recommendations:
- Restore natural buffer zones
- Limit development in the most vulnerable areas
- Get serious about climate change
- Make a Presidential appeal
- Increase energy diversity
- Boost energy efficiency
Read the whole thing.
(via David Corn)
Comments
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kaspit Posted 8:01 am
02 Sep 2005
We could strengthen their points, but it's good to know that business interests (sometimes) realize they are with us on this earth.
I cited your whole thing post, along w/other Katrina posts.
Take care,
Kaspit
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Clark Williams-Derry Posted 8:54 am
02 Sep 2005
"they argue that the relentless focus on staving off suicide bombers has left crucial gaps elsewhere"
Look, what New Orleans shows is that the federal government is completely unprepared to deal with any realistic disaster scanario. Does anyone -- anyone -- seriously believe that if New Orleans had been attacked by a nuke, a dirty nuke, or a series of strategically placed conventional bombs, that FEMA & Homeland Security would have been better organized than they've proven over the past week? If anything, the city would be worse off and the rescue plan even more poorly organized, since nobody would have evacuated in advance.
This sort of idea -- that the administration has simply focused on the wrong priorities -- is pernicious, since it suggests that the administration is basically competent but just a little misguided. This is clearly wrong. Homeland Security has proved itself to be fundamentally useless, even for the priorities that it's supposed to have been paying the most attention to.
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Angel Posted 8:30 am
03 Sep 2005
Oh, and Rumsfeld's hot air has been identified as a contributing factor to the gulf coast water temperature.
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