Very large scale disasters, especially those that have occurred in the developing world, have very long recovery periods.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
While natural disasters capture headlines and national attention short-term, the work of recovery and rebuilding is long-term.
Never in our country's history have we witnessed a natural disaster that has impacted so many people in such a wide area. In fact, as of the writing of this column, millions of people along the Gulf Coast have been displaced from their homes in a period of only five days.
Disasters are usually a good time to re-examine what we've done so far, what mistakes we've made, and what improvements should come next.
We have a real role in how our own collective lives, our nation, and our world and society turn out. Seizing those opportunities is important, and disasters are sometimes one of those opportunities.
Sometimes it takes a natural disaster to reveal a social disaster.
The world has been experiencing a whole pattern of auto-destruction, whether in environmental disasters like Chernobyl or health disasters like AIDS.
Mr. Speaker, from hurricanes and floods in Latin America to earthquakes in Asia, natural disasters are increasingly becoming a regular feature of life for large numbers of people around the globe.
Historical experience shows that a crisis causes either a recovery or catastrophic consequences.
My friends, as I have discovered myself, there are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters.
The environmental movement, like all political processes, reacts best to disasters. But these are very slow, very gradual disasters in the making.