I don’t know about you guys; but, I am appalled by our response to the damage created by hurricane Katrina. Not just the terrible suffering that hundreds of thousands of citizens have suffered, or the fact that deadbeat leaders of our country stayed on vacation (Dick) or went to Broadway shows (Condi) as the hurricane was destroying entire swathes of this country. Neither (as if that weren’t enough) am I merely outraged by the lack of preparedness, the censorship, or the pathetic spin the government has engaged in since the debacle, or the tens of billions of dollars we have obviously wasted on being (ill-) prepared for such a calamity. No, I am also outraged by the fact that no one seems to be taking issue with the fact that we are partly to blame for this disaster. Did you know that every mile of wetlands can absorb 1-3 feet of storm surge? And, that we have lost over 25 miles of wetlands along the Gulf Coast in the last fifty years? Let’s see here, Katrina produced a 20-foot storm surge, and we have cut down or destroyed 25 miles of wetlands. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that our callous disregard for nature has once again, in this case, killed a few thousand of us!

Despite what they might say, the current powers that be are directly responsible and now, as billions of dollars are being poured into reconstruction, are we even acknowledging that natural reconstruction of wetlands is vital if we are to ensure that this never happens again? No. And, the press isn’t challenging anyone on the issue either.

Not only do wetlands absorb storm surge, but they are a vital filter for nutrients to be absorbed before they reach the ocean. Today, in the Gulf of Mexico, there is a dead zone the size of New Jersey during the hot summers. A dead zone is an area that has very low amounts of oxygen, due to an influx of nutrients (in this case from the Mississippi River carrying fertilizer and waste from farms in America’s heartland), and therefore cannot support aquatic life.

Basically, nutrients cause huge algal blooms at the surface of the water. When the algae dies, it floats to the bottom where bacteria consume it and, in doing so, deplete almost all the oxygen. Everything that can’t swim out of the area suffocates. The Gulf of Mexico isn’t the only place where this happens — fully one-third of the nation’s estuaries experience a complete loss of oxygen in the summers.

What can you do? Learn more about these issues by visiting www.coastaid.org. CoastAid is dedicated to educating people about the destruction of wetlands along the Louisiana coast.

In addition, please support the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Visit the Red Cross to help ease the terrible suffering of so many.

And don’t forget to visit PETsMART Charities at http://www.petsmart.com/charities/about_us/about_us.shtml to help the often forgotten victims of this disaster.

Well, it has been just over a year since I moved to DC. During that time the politics of this country have become ever more present in my conscience … who’s the lucky boy? I have spent several days on the Hill visiting with various senators and congressional representatives, both Republican and Democrat. I have listened to my colleagues rant and rave about one party or the other. Most recently, I endured such a tirade about the injustices of the current Republican administration — and yes, there are many. (Note: that MAY be the understatement of the year). However, there have been injustices in every administration because government has totally lost the plot. The role of government is to balance out the inequities and greed of the individual. By proxy, that includes the corporation, as it is often merely the ugly, albeit necessary, extension of the base desires of the individual. When over $20 billion is spent a year on 500 or so people in government, clearly we lack a check and a balance somewhere. (Note: that IS the understatement of the year). So, we suffer on and our great nation grows weaker and, unfortunately, nothing suffers quite like the social-environmental movement.

For example, take the recent $64 billion tax breaks to oil companies, which are already making record profits. What got slashed instead? Public works projects like the levies that were supposed to protect New Orleans, or the restoration of the wetlands along the coast that could have absorbed much, if not all, of the storm surge. The result? Thousands of people potentially dead, and hundreds more suffering unspeakable hardship, citizens just like you and me, neglected and abandoned by the very government whose foremost responsibility is to protect their freedom, liberty and happiness — three fundamental tenets of our society that seem to be fading away with each passing year, regardless of which party is in power.

You see, all too often these issues are politicized and they shouldn’t be. I am always dismayed when the realm of social-environmental stewardship becomes a partisan struggle.

A healthy environment, clean air and water — these are the roots of a just and equitable society, of safe communities and healthy families. They are not political rhetoric — they are necessary for life and the very foundation of a great nation.

As Teddy Roosevelt, himself a Republican, once said:

“The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.”

Just remember, it’s your future at stake. Stewardship of this planet is not a luxury: it is a vital necessity of life. As citizens in a republic, it is our duty to be outraged by the injustice and gross abuse of power such as I described above.

Think about it …

Stop. Put down that soda bottle and look at it. There is something you might not know about that bottle and, in this case, what you don’t know will hurt you.

Americans aren’t just gluttonous about their food; they are gluttonous about almost everything. In 2001, the average person generated 4.4 pounds of solid waste a day and an increasing amount of that is plastic.

Now, as we all know, plastics are used in almost every facet of our life, from the home to the healthcare industry. They are touted for their cost-effectiveness, versatility and durability. And, it is this third asset that makes them so dangerous.

Unlike biodegradable products, which will eventually break down into their base elements, plastics are synthetic and last almost forever. Every piece of plastic ever manufactured still exists.

In the United States alone, 100 billion pounds of plastic resin pellets (the raw materials created for consumer plastics) are manufactured each year and all of that plastic eventually ends up either in landfills or in the ocean. Let us make no mistake, this is a daunting reality and one that threatens not only the health of our oceans, but of ourselves as well.

In the Pacific Ocean today, there is an area roughly the size of Texas covered in plastic. And, even more chilling are the consequences of this veritable panoply of plastic. Today, there are six pounds of plastic particles for every pound of plankton floating in the Mid-Pacific Central Gyre — a chilling thought, as the animals which feed in this area are not able to distinguish between zooplankton and photo-degraded plastic. In fact, under a microscope they look virtually identical.

Already, there is evidence that entire food chains are disrupted. Sea turtles, fifty species of fish, and over 80 species of sea birds have all been found to mistake plastic for food with catastrophic results. The animals feel full after eating plastic even though they have not eaten anything with nutritional value, causing them to starve on a full stomach!

In addition, plastics have proved to be very good at absorbing toxins found in the water and transferring these toxins to anything which ingests them. In fact, they have been found to absorb and concentrate toxins such as PCBs and DDEs up to 1 million times the levels found in the surrounding ambient seawater.

Humans are not immune to the effects of this insidious agent either. As we ingest the fish which have eaten the plastics, any toxins that accumulate in them are potentially transferred to us.

Scary stuff. There are solutions though: less littering, better pollution control, and less packaging, for example. But, the bottom line is that we, as a society, need to buy and have less STUFF. We just have too many things. Certainly we are a consumerist society, but when will enough be enough?

Well, I have to say that I feel pretty lucky right about now.  Last week, when Katrina threatened to totally disrupt our Aquarius project, we were able to salvage it without too much loss of time, money or effort and, instead of ruining our plans she moved on to bigger fish and has devastated the Gulf Coast and one of my favorite cities, New Orleans.

Indeed, the Big Easy’s big problems have made us all feel grateful that we were spared the wrath of Mother Nature. Katrina and all such terrible natural disasters remind us that for all our technological brilliance, all our dams, levees, and superdomes, nature is still capable of inflicting great damage whenever we try to control her. The problem is we never seem to learn. I guarantee that in a few years, and with some help from FEMA, we will build bigger and "better" beachfront resorts and homes, stronger dams and levees and an even bigger Superdome. I also guarantee that eventually, there will be another natural disaster to knock them all down again. I can only hope that some day we realize that we must find ways to work with and respect nature and her power.

Take the word "erosion" for example. Erosion is not some freak occurrence. Beaches grow and shrink; it is a naturally occurring process. Humans are the ones who disregard this and then complain about their houses falling into the ocean. Remember the recent Tsunami in Southeast Asia? Recent reports of the damage have proven that the degradation of coral reefs and coastal mangrove areas exacerbated the damage caused by the waves. You see, coral reefs and mangroves traditionally act as natural buffers against waves and tidal flow. However, human greed and near-sighted action has caused many of the coral reefs to die. From dynamite fishing of coral reefs to the clear cutting of mangroves to put up shrimp farms, the degradation of coastal habitats caused many more thousands of people to lose their lives than should have. No amount of "economic development" and "progress" is worth that cost.

Katrina, the tsunami and all such natural disasters have caused terrible damage and, worse yet, unspeakable human suffering. I only hope that some day we will learn that we cannot control nature and that, instead, we must respect her and plan accordingly.