Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Is New Orleans our future?

According to Mike Tidwell, author of Bayou Farewell, there's no reason that other coastal cities won't some day find themselves below sea level like New Orleans. Because of global climate change, New York, Miami, or San Francisco may find themselves literally in deep water if something is not done. Here's what Tidwell said on "Meet the Press":

But the really final big story here is that the Bush administration is failing on another level to hear warning signs and take credible evidence that there's dire problems. The Bush administration itself--its own studies say that we will in this century turn every coastal city in America into a New Orleans. Why? Because we got three feet of subsidence, sinking,in south Louisiana in the 20th century because of the levees. Right now, because of global climate change, the Bush administration's own studies say we will get between one and three feet of sea level rise worldwide because of our use of fossil fuels.

The big, big, big take-away message here is: New Orleans is the future of Miami, New York, San Diego, every coastal city in the world, because whether the land sinks three feet and you get a bowl in a hurricane like this, or sea level rises worldwide, same problem. We have got to address this energy problem that David mentioned. We have an irrational energy problem.
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Then you have the consequences of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases turning every city, coastal city in the world into a New Orleans. We've got to start thinking about a new energy future.
If this isn't an imperative for changing our energy policy, I don't know what is.

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