President Bush looked out his window this morning and saw that a large elm tree had fallen over a laneway at the White House. Assuming he then tuned into CNN, his eyebrows must have knitted together — knitted into a large brain-clamping singularity. Think George, think! There is sporadic flooding in the Washington, D.C area today and the forecast calls for five more days of precipitation. The Justice Department building and IRS headquarters had to be closed and the Washington Metro service was disrupted because of water in the tunnels. It all sounds like an echo of Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Forty Signs of Rain”, a great read that sets a major flood in D.C. against a backdrop of climate change politics and the strained relations between science and government. It’s worth noting that Robinson’s book was written before Katrina. Even Frank Luntz, the guy with the crazy memos has apparently seen the light about climate change. Perhaps Bush will also have an epiphany when he sees thousands of Washingtonians canoeing around the National Mall.
| January 06 2009 |
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