If(when) evacuation is ordered, you can bet the nation will pay close attention to how effectively all those buses, currently on stand-by, are put to use.
I'm betting that it will *look* more effective (i.e. "We got everyone out") only because those who were most vulnerable the first time (the poor, elderly, & mentally ill) simply were unable to return to New Orleans after Katrina for the same reason they couldn't leave New Orleans before Katrina: they couldn't afford it - no car, no gas money, etc.
That's the classic short-term vs. long-term tradeoff.
What concerns me greatly, however, is that there isn't more attention paid to the oil / plastics relationships. In order to effectively reduce our total oil consumption, we'll have to be willing to make changes there.
Can we? I think our dependence on plastics - in everything from food packaging to medical supplies - is too great. What's the alternative to that?
I am holding in my hand a coffee cup made of corn plastic. Is 'corn plastic' a feasible mass-production raw supply? Can it be used as a 100% replacement for plastic?
Last 5 comments by John Minnihan
I'm betting that it will *look* more effective (i.e. "We got everyone out") only because those who were most vulnerable the first time (the poor, elderly, & mentally ill) simply were unable to return to New Orleans after Katrina for the same reason they couldn't leave New Orleans before Katrina: they couldn't afford it - no car, no gas money, etc.
What concerns me greatly, however, is that there isn't more attention paid to the oil / plastics relationships. In order to effectively reduce our total oil consumption, we'll have to be willing to make changes there.
Can we? I think our dependence on plastics - in everything from food packaging to medical supplies - is too great. What's the alternative to that?
I am holding in my hand a coffee cup made of corn plastic. Is 'corn plastic' a feasible mass-production raw supply? Can it be used as a 100% replacement for plastic?
Yeah... it's hard to get past Godwin's Law on this.