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Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 17:13:34 -0400
To: improvetheworld &AElig umich.edu
From: Dave Morris <thecat &AElig umich.edu>
Subject: Fwd: What Katrina revealed
Status: O

This seemed well written to me.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "John Adams, NRDC President" <alerts &AElig nrdcactionfund.org>
> Date: September 14, 2005 5:06:38 PM EDT
> To: thecat &AElig umich.edu
> Subject: What Katrina revealed
>
> Dear Friend,
>
> Hurricane Katrina has been, first and foremost, a human disaster -- a 
> seemingly
> endless tale of suffering marked by lives lost, communities dispersed 
> and
> families torn asunder. Our hearts go out to the hundreds of thousands 
> of
> displaced people who are now struggling to piece some semblance of 
> their lives
> back together.
>
> NRDC is doing all that we can -- as I'm sure you are -- to aid the 
> ongoing
> relief effort in the Gulf states. We're also contributing our special 
> expertise
> on oil spills, toxic pollution and drinking water in order to help 
> meet the
> immediate challenges.
>
> As the flood waters begin receding, Americans are also beginning to 
> gain some
> much-needed perspective on our fragile place in the natural world. Few 
> events
> in our lifetime have revealed so dramatically the deep 
> interconnectedness
> between people and nature.
>
> As an environmental organization, NRDC has a profound obligation to 
> ensure that
> the environmental lessons of this disaster are not only learned, but 
> that they
> are heard loud and clear in our nation's capital. Hurricane Katrina 
> destroyed
> more than human lives and homes. She also blew away a decade's worth 
> of denial
> about major environmental problems that confront America.
>
> Katrina destroyed the fantasy that we can blithely go on increasing our
> dangerous dependence on oil -- whether imported or domestic. Our 
> oil-addicted
> economy is just too vulnerable to supply disruptions, as anyone who 
> filled up
> their gas tank last week discovered. The solution is NOT to drill and 
> destroy
> the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- or our beautiful coastlines -- 
> as many
> in Congress are now suggesting. Drilling in the Arctic would not have 
> any
> impact on gas prices until 2025, and even then it would only reduce 
> prices at
> the pump by a trivial 1.5 cents per gallon. Our nation simply does not 
> have
> enough oil reserves to affect world oil prices. The only way out of 
> this mess
> is to reduce our appetite for oil by improving the fuel economy of our 
> vehicles
> (which consume 40 percent of our oil) and by relying on smarter, 
> cleaner and
> renewable ways to power our economy.
>
> Katrina also exposed the fiction that we can dredge, bulldoze and fill 
> millions
> of acres of coastal wetlands without paying a price. Wetland 
> ecosystems are
> Mother Nature's perfect buffer against catastrophic storm surges. 
> Destroy that
> buffer and you destroy the last line of defense, not only for New 
> Orleans but
> for a host of other American cities. In this case, as in so many 
> others, what's
> good for the wildlife of coastal America is also indispensable to its 
> people.
> We are part of nature.
>
> Katrina demolished the pretense that we needn't reckon with global 
> warming.
> While no single hurricane can be directly linked to global warming, 
> climate
> scientists agree that we are entering an epoch of warming oceans, 
> rising sea
> levels and much more intense storms. We know full well what kind of 
> pollution
> controls are required to reverse this trend. If we don't act, Katrina 
> will be
> our future. You can't say she didn't warn us.
>
> Finally, Katrina tore the lid off one of our nation's most shameful 
> truths:
> that petrochemical plants, toxic waste sites, oil refineries and other
> industrial threats to human health are most often sited next to 
> low-income
> minority communities. The rest of America regularly averts its eyes 
> from this
> injustice. But with the poorest neighborhoods of New Orleans drowning 
> in a
> hazardous sea of fuel, sewage and chemicals, it's hard not to notice 
> just which
> of our citizens are paying the ultimate price.
>
> Oil addiction. Wetland destruction. Global warming. Environmental 
> injustice.
> You're well aware that NRDC has been working for years to awaken 
> America to
> these terrible problems and to champion urgently needed solutions. But 
> Katrina
> has changed everything. The public is finally paying attention. And 
> officials
> in Washington are looking to respond.
>
> Our challenge is making sure our leaders take away the right lessons 
> from this
> disaster and respond with real solutions, not with the old ways of 
> thinking or
> business-as-usual giveaways to well-connected industries.
>
> It won't be easy. The Bush Administration and Congressional leaders 
> have spent
> the last four years digging us ever deeper into a hole of oil 
> dependence,
> wetland destruction, global warming pollution and environmental 
> injustice. It's
> unspeakably tragic that it took a deadly hurricane to expose this 
> gaping crater.
>
> There's an old proverb that says, "If you find yourself in a hole, stop
> digging." Getting our leaders to stop digging will be a tall order. 
> But with
> more hurricanes sure to follow in Katrina's wake, we have no choice 
> but to
> dedicate ourselves to the task at hand. As always, NRDC will be 
> counting on
> your commitment, your support and your activism at every step of the 
> way.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> John H. Adams
> President
> Natural Resources Defense Council
>
> . . .
>
> Note: If you would prefer not to receive NRDC Action Fund updates, you 
> can send
> an email message to alerts &AElig nrdcactionfund.org with "Please remove my 
> name" in
> the subject line. The NRDC Action Fund is an affiliate of the Natural 
> Resources
> Defense Council (NRDC).
>
> 2001948
>
>
David P. Morris, PhD
aka thecat &AElig umich.edu, aka KB8PWY
home: 734-995-5525  UofM (2104 SPRL): 734-763-5357  fax: 734-763-5567
ElectroDynamic Applications Inc.
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