The Oasis

Katrina: The Blame Game

In the weeks since the devastation along our U.S. Gulf coast, we have heard everyone from the government to Rush Limbaugh being blamed for Hurricane Katrina.

But here's a twist...

all that destruction was really the fault of the environmentalists!

A writer from the Competitive Enterprise Institute charges that environmental groups like American Rivers and the Sierra Club are to blame because they filed lawsuits calling for review of levee projects prior to their construction, delaying building of protective barriers that would have prevented much of the damage from the hurricane. At first glance, the argument seems to have at least some merit. But...

it turns out that American Rivers never discouraged repairs to levees that were vital to protecting New Orleans and that the accusations against the Sierra Club stemed from a case dating back to 1996, pertaining to levees located a hundred miles north of New Orleans.

Even pre-Katrina, an American Rivers statement cautioned that levees give floodplain residents a false sense of security and the building of leeves has encouraged even more floodplain development. You can see American Rivers statement on levees and floods at their website at America Rivers.org

Lessons from Water and Hurricane Katrina

Well, Katrina has come and gone, stomping and smashing and whipping her way through the city of New Orleans, her fury spent, but in her wake a trail of devastated lives, human, animal and plant communities alike. She also dropped her watery calling card in the form of lashing rain and utterly unimaginable flooding.

Yet, in spite of all the problems with water in the New Orleans and Gulf coast areas, that magical elixir itself is not the enemy. A few weeks ago, before Katrina was even a blip on the weather radar, our company released our short Flash movie, Lessons from Water. As you know, if you watched the presentation, the peculiar molecular structure of water makes possible all life on Earth, and from water, we can also learn some of life's most important lessons.

A hurricane is also about water, and even though the images of Madame Katrina's murderous rampage may cause us to recoil in horror, there are lessons here as well.

Hurricane Katrina has caused many to re-examine the issue of global warming. A warmer ocean spawns storms with more energy, and with the potential to cause horrible loss of life. Still, the debate goes on and many say the evidence for global warming is not yet convincing enough to act. But when will we be convinced...when category five hurricanes are the rule and not the exception? When the polar ice caps melt and all our ports are flooded, with a subsequent stoppage of all international trade?

And what about our penchant for destroying wetlands and marsh areas, draining these hauntingly beautiful ecosystems for more and more houses that overlook the water? The seemingly inexhaustible expanse of wetlands outside New Orleans have always been a natural buffer, slowing down storms as they rush in from the sea.

But the natural protection that wetlands offer is disappearing...and fast.

Scientists say that the wetlands outside New Orleans are drying up and crumbling up before our very eyes. Every year, an area the size of Manhattan is lost, only to be replaced by open ocean.

Why is this happening?

Partially because of New Orleans levee system. Yes, the levees stop the river from flooding but with that comes a terrible price...

wetlands depend on a regular influx of floodwater and rich river mud to survive.

So what's the solution? Of course, many think that more levees are the answer. Bigger, higher, more technologically advanced so this devestatation won't happen again. More highways, so people can get out of town faster when another hurricane arrives.

But the truth is, we need less construction, not more. The ancient and magnificent wetlands surrounding New Orleans and the Gulf coast need to be restored. The time has come to drop our hubris and admit that we failed.

The time has come to learn lessons from water. Pray, for ourselves and for our children, that we will choose to learn now, before it's too late.