{meliologie} {ivyologie}

Global Warming Could Spell Disaster for Blacks: "Posted Jan. 18, 2006 � If you thought Hurricane Katrina was a once-in-a-lifetime fluke, think again. Concerned environmentalists say that unless the United States gets real about the threat of global warming, African Americans and other people of color can expect a repeat of disasters like Katrina."

Wow. I'm glad *I* don't have to worry, ya know, not being a person of color.

Leave it to BET to take an environmental story, and twist it to help market it to their target audience. I mean, seriously. With mini-headlines within the story that say, "Bad News for Blacks" and "Pollution Worse for Us," it demonstrates how odd people can think.

Here's a quote from the story: Relatively, Blacks are environmental Good Samaritans. Per capita, we emit approximately 20 percent less carbon dioxide than Whites – well below 2020 targets set by the U.S. Climate Stewardship Act. Not only do we use more energy-conserving public transportation, we spend considerably less per capita on energy-intensive material goods.

I'm not racist, nor am I profiling or stereotyping anyone. But if most of the people riding the bus could buy a car, they would. We'd all be at the same levels. The bus-riders, regardless of color of COURSE emit less CO2.

Another one: Yet Blacks are exposed to worse air pollution than Whites in every major metropolitan area.

Um, how is that possible. If I'm standing next to my Black friend, she is getting more pollution than myself? Is that physically possible? Where are their statistics coming from?

One more: That’s bad news, especially for African Americans. Citing Katrina as a case-in-point, some environmentalists say global warming impacts minorities and the disadvantaged harder than other groups. If global warming gets worse, many African-American communities will be more vulnerable to breathing ailments, insect-carried diseases and heat-related illness and death.

I think next time I read where tornados wipe out big CHUNKS of the midwest, I'm going to write a story called "Weather Anomalies Spell Disaster to White People!" I bet *that* wouldn't go over as well as this story.