Prayers for the people of New Orleans

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

It doesn’t seem right for the US Republican Party to go ahead with its own promotional spend-fest immediately after the Democrats’ own mega-million jambouree, with New Orleans facing another hurricane, another genuinely doomsday scenario. Presidential candidate John McCain is on record as having said that “it just wouldn’t be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster”–and most, irrespective of their politics, would agree. When grand scale disaster strikes, partisan political events serve no-one, and can backfire.

Our prayers must be with the population evacuating the city, and those 50 or so city workers who will be staying behind. If anything, the money both political parties spend is thrown into sharp and unattractive contrast with the plight of New Orleans and its people, the huge cost of the last hurricane clean-up—which is still ongoing, and not done with at all—and the cost of repairing the damage to come, assuming that it can be repaired. One has to surely wonder if it’s time to abandon this beautiful and distinctive city to the sea altogether, however hard it is hit this week. But one can also understand the very human desire to do all that can be done to ensure the city’s survival, even if the clock appears to be ticking down on coastal towns and cities the world over.

Hurricanes are a fact of life, and progressively bigger hurricanes are said to be an inevitable consequence of the changing world climate. Indeed, each successive hurricane season has an impact on global weather patterns and temperatures, the last 2007 season being responsible for the world being generally cooler and much wetter throughout 2008 so far. For the next 10 years we’re being told not to be lulled by what might be a temporary dip in the overall trend of the planet growing hotter degree by devastating degree. Each climate and weather event has a knock-on effect felt the world over.

Here in the UK the government faces difficult decisions on coastal sea defences, whether to spend money on them or accept erosion and destruction as inevitable forces of nature, itself responding to the things we’ve done and continue to do. Already people live in worthless, unsaleable houses teetering on cliff edges that, less than 40 years ago, were miles away. Our coastlines are changing in ways man is incapable of preventing, only able to accelerate—once upon a time inadvertently, but now knowingly. Before too long, it won’t only be our geographies but the foods we are able to grow or not that will also change.

Politicians still toy with global warming, is it or isn’t it, they do this but we’ll do that. Whoever we vote for will have to demonstrate real leadership in a rapidly changing world. It’s time for politicians of courage to emerge, to tell us what we need to hear, not what we want to hear. The people of New Orleans and the entire world need leadership, help and guidance, so that we may all do our part to alleviate suffering and ensure survival and prosperity for the entire human race this century, and beyond, by taking what measures we can, small- and large-scale.

The Mayor of New Orleans deserves commendation for doing all he can, by ordering mandatory evacuation, to avoid loss of life on this occasion. But what support will the evacuees get once they are outside his field of influence and responsibility? Not all of them will have relatives and friends elsewhere who can step in where government fails to provide sufficient financial help, food, and shelter.

And here’s hoping two things: one, that this time round the population of New Orleans is better treated by the outgoing President than last time, and two, that the hurricane proves to be less devastating than currently feared. But if people are at all able next week or in coming months to return to their homes, the question remains: for how long can they stay in them?

categories: healthy planet, in the news, rattle bag