Federal Effort In Hurricane Disaster Grows
Written from Jasper, Alberta--
Twenty-four hours makes a lot of difference. If yesterday, the federal effort in the hurricane crisis seemed desultory, today it is clear the government, with all its power, is revving up, sending all kinds of assistance. It has some catching up to do.
And still, there could be a crisis of confidence in the country, especially if gas shortages should develop this weekend to go with the gas price increases.
With the refineries on the Gulf Coast shut down, with the biggest pipelines not operating due to power failure, a shortage could be hours away.
Army Corps of Engineers estimates that it may be days or weeks before the levee breaks in New Orleans can be sealed cannot be allowed to stand. The job should be put in other hands if the Corps, a notoriously slow and incompetent agency, cannot move quickly. It is obviously important, that all steps be taken to seal the levee breaks in coming hours. No public expense and effort must be spared.
As for the private oil industry, government supervision of its efforts and close controls if necessary, should be implemented quickly if they prove necessary.
It is commendable that over night the governor of Louisiana announced that thousands of refugees now housed in the Super Dome will be moved to the Houston Astrodome. It is vital to get helpless refugees to a safer location.
This may be a protracted business, but we should be on the upward curve soon. In the meantime, the news media should do its job, which is to report the news without fear or bias. So far, that has certainly been the case.
Twenty-four hours makes a lot of difference. If yesterday, the federal effort in the hurricane crisis seemed desultory, today it is clear the government, with all its power, is revving up, sending all kinds of assistance. It has some catching up to do.
And still, there could be a crisis of confidence in the country, especially if gas shortages should develop this weekend to go with the gas price increases.
With the refineries on the Gulf Coast shut down, with the biggest pipelines not operating due to power failure, a shortage could be hours away.
Army Corps of Engineers estimates that it may be days or weeks before the levee breaks in New Orleans can be sealed cannot be allowed to stand. The job should be put in other hands if the Corps, a notoriously slow and incompetent agency, cannot move quickly. It is obviously important, that all steps be taken to seal the levee breaks in coming hours. No public expense and effort must be spared.
As for the private oil industry, government supervision of its efforts and close controls if necessary, should be implemented quickly if they prove necessary.
It is commendable that over night the governor of Louisiana announced that thousands of refugees now housed in the Super Dome will be moved to the Houston Astrodome. It is vital to get helpless refugees to a safer location.
This may be a protracted business, but we should be on the upward curve soon. In the meantime, the news media should do its job, which is to report the news without fear or bias. So far, that has certainly been the case.
posted by Ken Reich at 9:10 AM
1 Comments:
this might be a naive comment but do you think Bush may use this disaster to reinforce his committment to Iraq as it might be even more important to "manage" oil resources in that country?
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