As the First Paroxysms of the 21st Century Survival Crisis Hit, Two of the Three US Presidential Candidates Pitch a Measly Tax Cut at the Pump
By Richard Power
Tornadoes in downtown Atlanta and on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. (Scientific American, 4-29-08)
Earthquakes in Illinois and Missouri. (Science Daily, 4-25-08)
In the 21st Century, my risk and crisis managment maxim "Anywhere, anytime ..." has a profound and unprecedented urgency. It is not as if we did not see it coming, it is not as if security professionals and scientists did not try to warn government and business.
In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, at least 22,500 Burmese are dead, hundreds of thousands are in desperate need of help. (Reuters, 5-7-08) The toll will only rise in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, the global food security crisis is intensifying: Soaring food prices may throw millions of Asians back into poverty, undo a decade of gains and stoke civil unrest, regional leaders said on Sunday as they urged a boost to agricultural production to meet rising demand. Asia -- home to two thirds of the world's poor -- risks rising social tension as a doubling of wheat and rice prices in the last year has slammed people who spend more than half their income on food ... Reuters, 5-4-08
Yes, there have always been cyclones. But there will be more of them. They will be bigger. They will last longer. They will be more powerful.
Yes, there has always been hunger. But it is being exacerbated in new, sweeping and unpredictable ways.
The climate change and sustainability crises have merged into a hideous two-headed monster that is devouring the future. But neither the political establishment nor the mainstream news media is preparing the populace.
It is embarrassing that two of the US three presidential candidates are spending their time in the sun pitching a measly tax cut at the gas pump. It is as if they have walked out of the pages of Edmund Gibbons' Decline and Fall ...
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Center for American Progress Action Fund's Mic Check Radio has released a witty and compelling compilation on the Top 100 Effects of Global Warming, organized into sections like "Global Warming Wrecks All the Fun" (e.g., "Goodbye to Pinot Noir," "Goodbye to Baseball," "Goodbye to Salmon Dinners," "Goodbye to Ski Vacations," etc.), "Global Warming Kills the Animals" (e.g., "Death March of the Penguins," "Dying Grey Whales," "Farewell to Frogs," etc.) and yes, "Global Warming Threatens Our National Security" (e.g., "Famine," "Drought," "Large-Scale Migrations," "The World's Checkbook," etc.) I urge you to utilize Top 100 Effects of Global Warming in your dialogues with friends, family and colleagues.
Burma, Asia, earthquakes, tornadoes, Poverty, Hunger, Food Security, Global Warming, Energy Security, Environmental Security, Alternate Energy, Sustainability, Green Power, Renewable Resources, Climate Change, Human Rights, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth,Laurie David, Stop Global Warming!, The Eleventh Hour, Organic Gardening, Richard Power, Words of Power
