SOME called it a small miracle. But perhaps they spoke too soon. What they found miraculous was a report from the Bush administration earlier this month about global warming. It stated in utmost detail that the planet was indeed warming up, with many chapters and verses about the painful consequences for North America. And, mirabile dictu, it said that human activity is most probably a significant part of the cause.
From the start of his administration, and even before, President Bush has said that there鈥檚 not enough evidence to blame the oil industry and factories and cars and coal-fired power plants for the rise in temperature. Why the change of heart? Well, perhaps there wasn鈥檛 one. The next day, after headlines ballyhooed the new Bush view, the President was asked about the report at a press conference. He said, yes, I saw what the 鈥渂ureaucracy鈥� wrote in the report. The tone, if not the words, was dismissive.
So what is one to make of this? Are some reckless, faceless bureaucrats now jobless and headless as well? Details have not been revealed. But the President鈥檚 top environmental adviser told one journalist that the report is no big surprise: Bush always believed the science showed that humans are contributing to global warming. He went on to say that the report was only stating what 鈥渃ould鈥� happen in the future, not what 鈥渨ould鈥� happen, so no action to mitigate warming was required yet.
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Hmmm. Linnaeus once said that nature does not move in fits and starts. Obviously he knew nothing of politics.
THERE are any number of slogans that we Americans like to use routinely to define our identity: 鈥淚n God we trust鈥�, 鈥淓 pluribus unum鈥�, 鈥淭he melting pot鈥�, 鈥淟and of the free and the home of the brave鈥�. But it鈥檚 easy to get the feeling that the proper slogan should be, 鈥淚t can鈥檛 happen here鈥�. Because we rarely get nailed, Americans suffer from a false sense of invulnerability.
That鈥檚 why the 11 September terror attacks were so very devastating. Not only was the loss of life horrifying, and the destruction of a New York landmark appalling, but the attack proved that the US is not, in fact, immune to foreign threats.
Right now a serious round of finger-pointing is under way in Washington over who might have known enough to suspect that a terror act was imminent last fall, and if they did know, why they didn鈥檛 have the wit or moxie to do something about it. It鈥檚 much more soothing to think that one person or one agency screwed up than to face the possibility that we may be under a cloud of risk for quite some time to come.
FEDERAL animal health officials must be looking at the current furore and getting a knot in their stomachs. While giving no guarantees that the unthinkable is truly impossible, these officials have done their level best to convince people that they need not worry about BSE or foot and mouth disease (FMD) entering the US. They show slides with a map of the US with a high picket fence around it, as much as to say 鈥渘othing gets in without our say so鈥�.
But if you leave Washington and listen to the rank-and-file veterinarians instead of the political appointees, you get a different picture. Port inspectors are overburdened, existing rules aren鈥檛 being enforced, laboratory facilities for quick diagnoses are antiquated and inefficient.
And while everybody visiting Britain last summer had to wipe his or her feet before returning to the US, one gets no sense of extra caution prompted by a recent FMD outbreak in South Korea, where thousands of soccer-mad tourists are running amok before returning home. The animal health people on the ground say we鈥檝e kept FMD out by luck as much as by planning.
Invulnerability is a worthy goal for superheroes, but it鈥檚 probably a hopeless quest for most countries, even if they are superpowers.
