Quite true, Mark.

I've been reading Jared Diamond's "Collapse", which is a study of why some past civilizations have failed when confronted with huge environmental problems, and others succeeded. The key, in Diamond's opinion, is how the leaders of each society chose to respond, both to immediate crises, and most importantly, to the early-warning signs of future catastrophe. The question of how recent governments have responded to warnings of disaster on the Gulf Coast is a dramatic illustration of that dynamic in action.

Our survival is not guaranteed. All American governments have been guilty to some degree of failure to deal with the prospects of environmental degradation, most particularly climate change and consequences like more intense and frequent hurricanes, and rising sea levels. All of sudden Katrina has demonstrated the reality of both problems...to our pain and sorrow. When the ice caps melt, sea levels will rise to the level of Katrina's storm surge...permanently.

I hope to God that this disaster will act as a wakeup call that we need to take the necessary steps to protect ourselves from future disasters like this. They will happen again.

Thanks for putting my reply to Tom in context. While I wanted to go along with your call to avoid partisan bickering, I could also see that partisan attempts to deny our past mistakes, and to dismiss the possibility of doing something because it's too expensive or too disruptive of the status quo, can lead directly to failure to do what must be done to survive. It's a fine reminder that these debates aren't held in a vacuum, and that the consequences of partisanship can be fatal.