We not only need to rebuild a safer New Orleans, but we need to do it quickly. If we abandon these people while we horse around over the reconstruction, they will leave to further their personal survival. You're on your own. Our government was pretty clear on that. They showed it the way they reacted to the city after the storm. It's evident in how they are talking about the survivors, blaming them for their suffering, implying time was not of the essence.
The displacement of population is the crisis that New Orleans faces. It is also a national crisis, because the largest port in the United States cannot function without a city around it. The physical and business processes of a port cannot occur in a ghost town, and right now, that is what New Orleans is. It is not about the facilities, and it is not about the oil. It is about the loss of a city's population and the paralysis of the largest port in the United States. -- Stratfor
The rivers are a permanent reality in the American economic landscape. We built New Orleans for an essential purpose. Sure, it's not an optimal spot, but it is a necessary one. We would do well to heed the history, and make a serious effort to restore a livable city in support of the ports we depend on. Failure is not an option.
Written by Jet and cross posted at Bring It On
Ed/Pub:LM
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Counterargument from a geophysicist:
2 - JR
Ports need lots of people with skills; so do oil fields and pipelines. We need the people in position to keep our economic flow going. They need homes, grocery stores, shops, auto parts, mechanics, dentists, lawyers, H&R Block and McDonalds, to name a few.
Yeah, oil fields. Say, aren't several of those out to sea? Funny, I don't see any cities springing up around them. Maybe a port doesn't really need a city of 1.3 million people to support it. Maybe the port doesn't need to be in New Orleans; after all, New Orleans itself is 50 miles from the mouth of the river.
Not only is New Orleans sinking, but sea levels are predicted to rise. And hurricanes are predicted to get worse. Sometimes settlements just have to be abandoned.
3 - Jet
Catchy phrasing, but not exactly overflowing in detail. How would you engineer a cost effective reallocation of tonnage moved up and down the Mississippi?
4 - Tan The Man
And where would you put all that crap and trash left... I guess you can fill the wetlands with to rebuild on top of.
5 - Jet
The clean up will be difficult to say the least, as was London after the Blitz, Hiroshima after the bomb, or ongoing clean up of the more recent Tsunami. I certainly don't think trashing the wetlands is the answer, but processing all that mess will take time. It'll create business opportunity and jobs too.
6 - Matthew T. Sussman
Adding to Jet's comments:
If you're an investor, BUY CATERPILLAR... or some other comparable construction stock.
7 - Tan The Man
I was being a little sarcastic. Obviously filling the wetlands was part of the problem. It will create plenty of jobs...