Most coverage of the devastation along the southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana coastal areas focuses on the impact of the flooding on residential and urban areas. What is under-reported is the impact on industrial areas. The Galveston Bay area is responsible for about a third of the petroleum refinery capacity in the United States, and nearly half of the U.S. petrochemical manufacturing. It should not be surprising then, given the current Hurricane Harvey related flooding conditions, that the potential danger and damage to the area and the environment is extreme.
Amy Goodman and Renée Feltz of Democracy Now! hear from Bryan Parras, organizer with the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Dirty Fuels” campaign, and with TEJAS (Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services) reporting from the heart of the Petro-Metro industrial zone. He tells us that there has already been a report of an incident in La Porte, Texas, of the escape, which has since been contained, of anhydrous hydrogen chloride, a gas which when it mixes with the moisture in the air produces hydrochloric acid. Of greater concern is the potential for a devastating explosion at a peroxide manufacturing plant in Crosby, Texas, triggered by the spontaneous combustion of chemicals which after the failure of the refrigeration units are no longer being kept cold enough to prevent the reaction.
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This disaster is tragic but predictably planned. Local and state governments encouraged growth and over population in environmentally sensitive areas prone to flooding and hurricanes. As Gomer Pyle always said Surprise Surprise.
The tragedy is going to continue for a very long time and will probably break the banks of the Texas State and Local governments. San Diego residents should be asking themselves how prepared our we? Every Time you see a petroleum plant burn, pollution swells, nursing homes and hospitals fall apart; ask yourself how has our City Council prepared for the big one, that is long overdue?
We should evaluate our local City, School, and regional government leaders on how prepared are they? Does the City of San Diego and its City Schools have sufficient reserves to operate for six to eight months under such disaster conditions? Could they keep basic services going and shelter and feed the majority of the population? How have our City Schools been stocked and prepared to shelter 50 to 100,000 families? The time to save for bad times and prepare for disasters is during good times.
The Pharaoh’s Dream has given us guidance on these matters for nearly 5,000 years. https://youtu.be/YxfH8dzxBGM
Genesis 41New International Version (NIV)
Pharaoh’s Dreams
41 When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, 2 when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.
8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”
14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.
22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.
28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.
33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God[a]?”
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”