There was a terrible thing called Katrina...tens of thousands were homeless because the worst possible storm that could have hit New Orleans did.  BUt now FEMA and the Government are to blame for everything.  They are to blame for the storm, the people that did not evacuate and were stranded.  They are to blame as well for the lack of insurance in a flood zone.  They are to blame because the trailers they provided free of charge are now not good enough.  They are to blame that because of all of the complaining about formaldehyde has been listeneed to and rather than allow for these same complainers to create a class action suit against the government for supplying free housing.  This seemingly will go on forever.  Now the government will be to blame because there is not enough low income housing.  The complainers will not like their apartments so there will be more complaints.  When will this ever end?  It will end when the government says, we have done the best that we can and you have a choice, put up a free tent that the Army will give you so you wont have to worry about formaldehyde or guess what - put your life back together yourself!  Ohhh but I am poor and I am impoverished and its not fair!  And why is it not fair?  No education? No job?  Well I guess the government should be providing all of those as well.  How about we give these people a bunch of hammer and nails and get them to provide the labor to build the low income housing that they complain is not available.  They can have jobs doing this as well.

I am rambling because I am getting so tired of this that it is making me angry.......tell me how I do not understand.

Common Sense

Please don't think I'm criticizing, I'm just seeking clairification.

       A hammer and a bunch of nails won't allow you to build a house.  Governments have permit processes and often require that builders have licenses and insurance and lots of other things.  Plumbing and electrical wiring cost money and the people who do it must also fill out forms and have licenses and insurance.  All of this is much more complicated, and less possible than merely handing someone a hammer and nails (I suppose they could cut down your trees to get the lumber... sigh).  Don't you know any of this?

      Your anger is misplaced.  

      What this has to do with the environment is this, the tragedy of Katrina was one part nature, and one part human manipulation of the environment (think gulf, levees, dredging), one part racism, about six parts government incompetence and a whole buncha parts that no one has quite figured out what to do with.

     The possibility would have been to build a green New Orleans.  The reality is a mess which has left thousand of mostly poor people uprooted and looking for answers.

     This should be the place where environmentalism, environmental justice and the future intersect.  But it looks like we ain't there yet.

patrick in Beijing

Thank you for the lesson in home building.  I understand that it is a more complicated process that just pieces of wood and nails.  The point that I am trying to make is that all of these complaints after the fact seem to me to be perpetuating the fact that the poor and disenfranchised that were - in my opinion - abandoned by their own lack of responsibility for themselves and then the local government that abandoned them.  To blame FEMA for the mess in my opinion is preposterous.  Could they have been quicker yes, could they have done more, yes....but whom could have predicited that the local governments were going to fail everyone so miserably.  We have all see the unused buses that they could have used to bus people out.

My angst and anger regarding this situation is that the "victims" of New Orleans are still screaming bloody murder whether it was FEMA or now the trailers that have too much formaldehyde in them and now that there are not enough apartments for the federal government to pay for.....its ridiculous and appears it will never end.  If its not good enough MOVE ON!....

The federal government in my opinion has screwed this up from the start by opening the coffers and trying to throw money at this problem.  I for one would have been happy to have one of the trailers.  I would take one right now if they wanted to get rid of one.  I have been around formaldehyde in building products my entire life and if you want to panic and say its going to give you cancer, then go do something else.  The federal government tried to help.  That help is now seen as making things worse.  Fine....then do what you should have done from the very beginning.  Take responsibility for yourself and provide for your family.

If there is another disaster like this, the government should give out Army tents and tell people the camp out rather than providing trailers or mobile homes.

No good deed goes unpunished..

Common Sense

Of course, this is all a result of over regulation, something environmentalists tend to want to see more of. Instead of being allowed to construct a cheap house that does not necessarily meat code, they will be forced to remain homeless.

Umm, not really.  They're bein' moved to apartments, not dumped out on the street.  They are not homeless.

Would we rather build houses/trailers that weren't up to code and then have 'em get hurt by it?  I think not.  If anythin', the codes hould be even stronger than what they are now.

   The system is a stacked deck, stacked against the poor.

    Demanding they take responsibility when they have no means to proceed is typical conservative logic.

    Sigh.  Given that the well off have the power in America, one wonders when they will take responsibility for the mess they have made of the country?

patrick in Beijing

It's a fact that Amtrack officials offered to send trains to New Orleans to evacuate people who were stranded (no cars remember) and were refused by FEMA.

It's a fact that the levee breaches were not due to overtopping but to poor engineering and constuction by the army corps of engineers. It's also a fact that that same government agency created the channel system that facilitated and speeded the high water in reaching the city.

It's a fact that the police officials in the town of Greta actually shot several unarmed persons attempting to evacuate after the flood on foot.

It's a fact that the US naval amphibious assault ship Bataan that had followed Katrina to New Orleans and was in the process of rendering assistance was ordered to stand down by the White House leaving citizens stranded without water or medical assistance when it was available 40 miles downriver.

It's a fact that many different groups that had assembled relief supplies, boats, water, food and proffesional search and rescue teams were turned away from rendering assistance at gunpoint by federal troops.

The citizens of New Orleans where primarily black. The residents of the San Diego suburbs white. Contrast the promptness and vigor of government response.  

It's also a fact that since Katrina the federal government has hampered rebuilding by issuing contradictory regulations and refusing to issue donated relief funds to citizens while handing out no-bid contracts to GOP donor corporations.

The environment and social justice issues cannot be seperated anywhere in the world where there are people living. Improving the living standards of the poorest improves local environmental conditions whereever it is set in motion.

Only a complete cretin, like our current president, can fail to see the connection.


Put the Carbon Back

We already have people on lands designated for the trailers, substitute tents and then we have affordable housing that will not give off formaldehyde and we are all good right?  No need to use the trees on public lands as the government could open up the coffers and send in firewood.  But wait....here is a crazy idea......ho about someone starts cutting down the dead trees from the poisonous water that filled the city and then sell those to either the local government of the people directly if they need wood.  I don;t think it is necessary as we could also set up a food kitchen at the tent city and supply the poor food for less than this will ultimately cost the federal government....

Byt the way Patrick, are you really in Bejing or are you simply making a statement?  And if in Bejing, how do you have so much insight about the west and wouldn't your time be better spent getting your government to allow this like free speech, democratic assembly, you have environmental disasters looming in your own neck of the woods to work on don't you?

Common Sense

You make several allegations that FEMA prevented aide from going into New Orleans.  You present them as fact.  References for this would be helpful from legitimate sources rather than blogs.....that would allow me to verify what you present as fact, which as yet I have not been able to verify some of these allegations.

However, I think you are missing the larger point that I am making.  New Orleans officials - LOCAL - officials had the first responsibility in my racist and bunker mentality mind to take care of their own.  Do you disagree?  Unless we can establish some small basis of agreement, then we cannot have a fruitful discussion.

Itemizing FEMA problems after the fact shifts the discussion over to another problem instead of allowing us to build some sort of communication on the issue.  But two wrongs do not make a right.  We have to decide to agree or disagree on a fundamental point.  If NOLA officials had the first line of responsibility and they failed, then why is the federal response what seems in my mind to get all of the attention?

I do not expect that I will change your mind.  It appears to me that if someone hates Bush and the current administration, then they will not see my point.  There is plenty of blame to go around at both levels.  I Simply believe that the local officials had the responsibility to first take care of its own.

If you really are of the opinion that the differences are only black and white as in your example of San Diego and New Orleans, then you are oversimplifying to make a point.  I for one don't think that is the case, with the possible exception of means because of a disparity in available income but also one of IQ, which should really piss some people off.

The further I write, the more apparent it becomes that a meaningful dialoge on this may not be possible.....

Common Sense

       I am American living in Beijing.  That's how I know so much about the West.  If you are an American, then my government is yours!!  Or Vice Versa.

       Your solutions sound cute, but ignore the reality of how poverty works in America.  Just build a house, use some wood, go for it!!  Right, I was being sarcastic.  I guess it didn't show (sigh, my fault).

       Many of the poor were and are, working poor.  All of their hard work hasn't made them rich.  

       And just telling people to go build new housing is meaningless.  It is like yelling at an unemployed person to find a job.

       So, why don't you just solve global warming?  Hurry up!! We're waiting!!

       Seriously, selling wood to build a house to people with no money, what a wonderful idea!!!  And we can feed them stone soup, too, right?  It always works in the fairy tales.

       More seriously, I guess we don't inhabit the same planet, so you may be right, dialogue may not be possible.  (smile).  Too bad...

patrick in Beijing

We are both American then.  

The larger point again is that if we have working poor, we most likely have them because they do not have an education that is worthwhile.  If you choose to blame it on the schools in America, that's fine.  I choose to believe that each person has a responsibility and drive of their own to get an education and put that to work.  I know first hand because I have six children from 26 to 9 years of age.  I can tell you without exception that every child is different and have their own level of application to the task at hand in getting their own education.  

The suggestion of telling people to build houses is offered in the context of a federal program that would pay these folks to participate in the rebuilding of their city.  I am suypposing that many of these working poor have a number of children and are getting government assistance.....why not get something out of them instead of just handing out money.

And Global warming is already solved.......I have looked at the evidence on both sides of the argument and I choose to stand with those who believe that Gore has it all wrong.  However that is my opinion and we are even less likely to have useful dialouge on that subject.

Patrick....we do inhabit the same planet, but we inhabit it from different perspectives and realities.  However, our views are so different that I liken it to each of us trying to teach a pig how to dance, it wastes your time and frustrates the pig.  Good luck with your thinking, a difference of opinion is what makes the world go around some days....

Common Sense