Fail to prepare, prepare to fail...

Over the next five years or so all Americans will be affected by the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. The luckiest among us will give both charitable dollars and tax dollars to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Red state or blue state, we are all in a state of giving when our neighbors--at home and abroad--need help. Indeed, it's the American way.The hurricane couldn't be avoided, for sure, but better preparation for it could have happened. Even FEMA told Bush in early 2001 that a monster hurricane hitting New Orleans was likely along with a major tembler in San Francisco and a terrorist attack in New York. As of now, in baseball parlance, that's two for three.

During this writer's lifetime--55 years next month--Americans have come to lead safer lives because we prepare. We wash with antibacterial soaps, shave with safer safety razors, brush with anti-tartar, anti-cavity toothpastes. We've become more health conscious, too, of not necessarily healthier. We try to lower our fat intake, cut cholesterol with and without medicines, eat a wider variety of healthful fruits and vegetables, choose from a huge array of breads and cereals and even get non-dairy milk! We drive cars that still guzzle gas but burn cleaner (I know, CO2 emissions are alarming!), have better suspension and tires, have superior safety restraints and engines that actually crush on impact mitigating road fatalities. We make our kids where crash helmets when they ride bikes or even skateboards. For most public buildings fire sprinkers have become code and the trusty fire hydrant is more ubiquitous than ever. Concrete and rebar are used in major construction like never before. At work we have better lighting, non-skid floors (I hope!) and emergency escape routes. Our computers have surge protectors plus firewalls to stave off the onslaught of hackers and spammers that lurk in cyberspace. In fact, an entirely new industry deals with controlling internet fraud and identity theft. Again, we've become adept at avoiding many of life's potential calamities by preparing. We might not be any happier than we were 50 years ago but we are safer and living longer.

So why was our country so ill-prepared for Katrina?

Underfunding for levee upgrades... paying for the Iraq war... thousands of National Guardsmen away "guarding" Iraq... There are many parts to the riddle so it's probably better to wait than point fingers right now. It is alarming though that the FEMA director's previous position was as an executive for the International Arabian Horse Association. Ludicrous but true.

What does Katrina have to do with solar power?

It's very relevant. Clean solar-powered electricity replaces power produced from fossil fuels. In so doing, fewer greenhouse gases--including CO2--are emitted into the air thereby reducing warming of the atmosphere. (Gulf water temperatures were at 90 degrees when Katrina hit land. Such hurricane conditions are likened to adding kerosene to a fire.) Advanced solar technology is here now. Waiting for photovoltaics to get more efficient makes as much sense as waiting for the ultimate television. The fact is, there's always going to be a better one over time.

In closing, Katrina's lesson is the same one drilled into us from grade school: Be prepared.

(The top photo above is Hurricane Katrina as it approached Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday, August 28, 2005. The second picture was taken on Monday. Photos courtesy of NASA and processed by the University of Wisconsin, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies.)