Gustav and you

Everyone probably know that there's another big hurricane headed for New Orleans. My buddy in the Coast Guard is on call, and millions of people are running from the coast. When Katrina hit the whole country was pretty well unprepared for the fallout. Folks in the Central Valley (I was in California at the time) were worried that maybe their levees wouldn't hold up either, and it turned out that all around the country surveys found that the infrastructure needed upgrades.

The weather coming in is rough all over the place. Down here Australia's in a drought that's been going on for years, and supposedly this last winter was one of the worst New Zealand's seen in 30 years.

Extreme weather patterns as a result of global climate change? Possibly - it's more likely that we'll see more hurricanes and droughts than we'll see drowning polar bears.

The UN wants to move immediately to work on global climate change, and the next US president is the heir-apparent as leader of a global climate change initiative. Just another important part of the global future that's riding on our country's decision in November.

Looking at what's about to happen, it makes sense that all the politicians involved will move their campaigns to whatever disaster occurs, but I think the underlying message, that our gas-guzzling coal-burning activities are probably leading to this climate shifts, is going to get lost in the shuffle. And that's a pity, because so long as we continue to treat the symptoms and only focus on reaction and repair, the problem will continue to get worse.

I know that not everyone has the option to walk or bike to work like I do. But until more people try, public transit and pedestrian and cycling access won't get any better. Biking here is incredible frightening due to really narrow streets, aggressive drivers, and a lack of bike lanes. But once I started talking about it, it turned out that several people I know bike and have started petitions to get things fixed. If we demand infrastructure that helps us to reduce our carbon emissions, things will change. We can't afford to let the inertia of the status quo paralyze us into inactivity or apathy.

Anyway, here's hoping that we're not about to witness another hurricane Katrina and that we will continue to move forward to develop better practices, both preventative and responsive.