There's A Storm A'Coming

The first Earth Day took place in the 1970s. The issues then are pretty much the same today. Only we've allowed the potential of environmental disaster to become the reality. There's no prevention of what's to come. Not anymore. When Hurricane Katrina hit the shores of the Gulf we watched the citizens of New Orleans struggle to survive and waited to respond. Even though it was an American city, it was a mostly "black" city.
It seemed New Orleans was more like a Haiti or Bangladesh than part of the US. Cops and the military were more apt to kill perceived looters than help hungry, thirsty humans. Once help arrived the horrors of the Super Dome had already been allowed. Seven years later the city is still waiting for true relief. A large portion of the homes owned by the poor and middle class have been condemned and scraped off so gentrifiers and rich developers could make one of the largest land grabs since the Europeans arrived in North America to steal the lands of the indigenous people.
This past week the bill came due for the neglect of our ecosystems. Our failure to acknowledge the harm done by greenhouse gases, polluted water, pesticides, plastics and other environmental wounds to the planet has resulted in the melting of ice caps and rising oceans. Which has led to bigger, more deadly weather occurrences.
Tornadoes have become more frequent and larger in size and areas of deadly destruction. Droughts and wildfires have become commonplace. Infestations of insects and destructive weeds have changed the landscape of our mountain forests. Fracking and other industrial polluters have put major potable water supply in jeopardy for generations to come. Hurricanes have increased in number, size and locations they strike.
New Orleans has been a frequent target of hurricanes. So, the neglect toward the city seemed palatable to some. Some even said New Orleans should be allowed to die because of the frequency of hurricane destruction. But this past week Americans woke up to the new reality of environmental payback. The Big Apple, Hoboken, Coney Island and all the iconic areas of the greatest megalopolis of the US were inundated by a "perfect storm" called Sandy. A huge tropical hurricane joined with a "Nor'easter" and a western storm front to strike at the heart of America like no terrorist had ever done.
The NYC subway was flooded. Staten Island was cut off for days with streets flooded and homes ripped apart by water and wind. Relief was slow to come as crews raced to restore power in Manhattan and the center of American commerce. Ordinary people would have to wait for their communities to be taken care of. Even with dramatic response by FEMA and the Red Cross, the damage was so great there was no possible way to alleviate the suffering of all the survivors.
What's unfolded in the days after the "super storm" has been an apocalyptic scene of things to come. New Yorkers were observed going through garbage for food, gas lines for cars were many miles long, drinking water was scarce and electricity was missing.
Some communities joined together to help one another but others seemed helpless to do much except complain about their plight. Images of beach homes worth millions became a common sight on the evening news. The once well off middle class neighborhoods were destroyed and the survivors became angry because their needs weren't instantaneously met by the government many wanted to do away with. The demand for instant gratification by this nation's people has been epitomized by men and women making unreasonable complaints following the greatest storm in the history of the nation.
The scenes of demanding Americans shows an ugly side of this nation many in the world have come to expect. Entitlement and American exceptionalism have become the norm.
When natural disasters occur in other parts of the world Americans often come to the aid with money and boots on the ground. We often make huge promises of aid only to renege when it becomes time to pay up. The political climate has created polarization so great we can't come together for other humans.
But when the disasters occur in American cities and towns, with the exception of New Orleans, the syndrome of the great American victim comes onto the scene. Like our losses in wars we create, our losses of life and property in natural disasters are much more egregious and significant than all the other nations that have suffered every bit as much. At least in our own minds. We don't remember the earthquake in Haiti that still awaits the aid we promised. New Orleans is no longer a city of black residents. And the black neighborhoods have been ignored for years.
The most important issue about the "perfect storm" hasn't been discussed by most people waiting in line to get gas for their internal combustion engine driven cars. The survivors who bemoan the total destruction of homes built too close to shore lines or in flood plains, don't accept their wasteful habits helped contribute to their plight. For two plus centuries the American people have believed they could rape the land of this nation and nations around the world without having to pay a price. They refuse to acknowledge the warnings of environmentalists about the continued use of fossil fuels creating global warming that would cause super storms. They refuse to acknowledge there is drought so wide-spread the food supply is in jeopardy. They refuse to admit allowing greedy corporate entities a free pass to pollute in every imaginable way has led to an environmental crisis of epic proportions. A crisis that may well lead to the eradication of human life on the planet.
The American people want to believe they are a nation of people with ideas and ideals. They believe they can do anything but haven't done anything to change since the end of World War II. The great myth we have created an "information age" transforming the world has played out to be an age of misinformation and polarity.
Change for this nation is a foolish notion reflected by the actions of the American government gridlocked in perpetual war and failure to maintain and rebuild the nation. Change is impossible when our Supreme Court gives corporations person hood and the ability to literally buy elections, judgeships and local rule. Change is impossible as long as corporate interests are allowed to dictate science for their own profits instead of the good of humans living on the planet, Earth. It's impossible if we continue to deny the obvious exemplified by Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy.
Environmental armageddon is quickly approaching and we won't connect the climate changes with the destruction of Katrina or Sandy. The irony of the relief efforts going on today is the bottled water being handed out by the Red Cross and other relief workers. The environmental damage caused in the name of relief only ensures there are much darker clouds waiting out in the oceans headed our way.