Katrina, World Opinion and Global Warming

I've chosen to link to a BBC News roundup of the world press. I haven't linked to the particular stories of devastation happening in New Orleans, because I think there is enough easily accessible news about that. However, the comments by the world press on this event are extremely telling.

Germany's Die Tageszeitung
"The fast and safe evacuation was white, leaving behind poor black people, as if time had stood still between the racial unrest of the sixties and today."

So true, Die Tageszeitung, so true. Why must we always see this dichotomy emerge? Why is it that Germany, with its history of fascism, has the courage to address this issue in this area (just as it at least attempts to address its own issues rather than pretend everything is just fine). It is sickening that the images from New Orleans and the images from Rwanda are almost indistinguishible?

Columbia's El Pais
"Today, in important areas of the Gulf of Mexico and, in particular, New Orleans there is a terrifying panorama of desolation and millions of human beings who live in the most powerful country in the world are suffering the tragedy of a catastrophe that is difficult to imagine."

Taiwan's Taipei News
"New Orleans may go down in history as the first major city in an advanced country to be lost to the process of global warming... We sincerely hope that the Bush administration will take the call from Hurricane Katrina and reconsider its energy and environmental policies and replace ostrich-like escapism with leadership in the global effort to deal with the crisis of global climatic change."

Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao
"This Katrina hurricane is a 'warning' by God over President Bush's reactionary behaviour on the Kyoto Protocol. The US government should wake up from this big disaster, truly take up its responsibilities as a great nation, and become the forerunner in protecting the global climate."

These three excerpts are actually representative of the majority of the comments in the roundup. They also come from countries in "developing areas." They all address the issue of global warming, which is a collective problem that all countries must address together. The United States effectively killed the Kyoto Protocol, an initiative that falls short of what is actually needed but which least addresses the issue. Clinton wouldn't make a firm commitment, Bush pulled out of it. The Bush administration complained that there were more restrictions on developed nations than on developing nations. Umm...that's because developing nations are...developing. The US uses far more energy per capita than any other nation. "China emits 2,893 million metric tons of CO₂ per year (2.3 tons per capita). This compares to 5,410 million from the U.S. (20.1 tons per capita), and 3,171 million from the EU (8.5 tons per capita)." Now, as the press correctly points out, the US will understand what it means to disregard a scientifically proven and wholly obvious phenomenon, if they even acknowledge it.

Also, as Ta Kung Pao pointedly indicates, the US should either stop with the God rhetoric or admit that God is punishing them. Moreover, the US should send in the National Guard to feed people, provide clean water and give them proper shelter, not to control looters per se. Let the "products" be taken and save the lives. That would be the Christian thing to do.