Storm and oil slick
The devastation caused by the storm in France continues to question us. Lessons have to be learned. We experience the fragility of human beings in the face of the forces of nature. Man cannot manage to control the power of the wind in spite of all the technology he has. Following that, festivities of year 2000 took place in an atmosphere of moderation and restraint.
Is it enough to say that this storm was exceptional in our mild climate, to say that any way it was a natural phenomenon that can be just only predicted? We cannot prevent to think about a deregulation of the earth climate: catastrophic flood in Venezuela, yet unseen dryness in Middle East, spectacular melting of the Arctic ice cap?
We have a right to ask if there is a link between the global warming and the green house effect. Isn't it urgent to take measures to reduce carbonic gas emission without waiting for the Sciences to prove it? Action against the gas of green house effect, requested in international conferences, was never followed by a political commitment. This action assumes saving energy, a new way of consumption and transportation, to help southern countries for improving their ecological use of energy.
The storm showed us also that school buildings recently build did not stand it very well. Does it mean that we wanted to build them quickly and cheaply at the expense of security?
The Oil slick has been an ecological catastrophe and has raised a lot of justified national anger. Total-Elf Company, for making money, used smug flags that every body knows are dangerous. A boycott of Total-Elf is a good way to rally public opinion. In Burma, Total helps the present dictatorship by building a gas pipeline with forced labor. In the Congo, Elf backs up a corrupted regime responsible of bloodshed and destruction. But it would be better to bring in legislation against the use of smug flags. If we don't act on the cause, it is difficult afterward to master the effects.
Storm and oil slick has created a movement of model solidarity not only in France but also outside our boundaries. They remind us that man is destined to live in harmony with nature and not against it. He is not created to plunder it and more so to arrogantly dominate it. It is a valuable lesson.