The fact that neither candidate has mentioned global warming in debates is a reminder that this election, though important for other reasons, will not elect a President willing to confront the number one issue threatening our planet. There is not question that Obama will do better on environmental issues, but even he is not willing to call our nation to the sanity requisit for confronting the issue. Apparently, our options boil down to whether we slam into the wall at 50 or 100 mph.
That being said, Romney’s environmental program, in the context of hurricane Sandy, is nothing short of insanity. His 5 % across the board budget cut for everything except military spending shows he plans to perform America’s heart surgery with a cleaver not the scalpel required by our situation.
Romney proposes to cut FEMA by half a billion dollars just as the super storms are arriving. FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Romney’s plan is to throw the burden of disaster on the states affected and eventually giving emergency relief to private entities. One of the worst disasters that could possibly befall our Republic is losing the concept of the common good and letting private contractors price gouge in times of crisis.
Romney also wants to cut a quarter of a billion from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA is the agency that predicts, studies and tracks storms. To cut that agency right now would be something like a submarine selling its periscope as a cost cutting move.
Romney also seeks to cut the SuperFund which does clean up for our nation’s poisonous pollution as well as cutting 2 billion from the department of Housing and Urban Development.
If our nation’s Supreme Court ever declares hurricanes to be “persons” in the same sense that corporations have been, there can be little doubt for whom the new persons will vote. A “Frankenstorm” like Sandy would have to love a nation of dog eat dog individuals leaving their most vulnerable helpless against her wrath.
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