"For years, energy and environmental experts sounded early alarms about the potential for catastrophes like this unless federal lawmakers immediately took the necessary steps to upgrade the country’s aging power grid to stave off widespread power failures. And in the case of global warming, backed the Kyoto protocol, which aims to curb the air pollution blamed for severe climate changes that is no doubt the reason Katrina turned from a relatively small hurricane to a destructive monstrosity due to high sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Weather Service.

Global warming isn’t some harebrained scheme cooked up in a laboratory by mad scientists. It’s an issue that’s as real as terrorism, and just as deadly. While support for the Kyoto treaty wouldn't have prevented an act of God like Hurricane Katrina it would have been a step in the right direction for the White House politically. By signing it, the Bush administration would have been able to fend off its critics who claim the administration has done nothing to safeguard the envir"onment for future generations.