There's a silver lining in the storm clouds

With uncanny timing, Gustav visited New Orleans on the opening day of the Republican convention and almost three years to the day that Katrina caused havoc.

Just as the Republicans were beginning to entertain some real hopes of retaining the White House, along comes a reminder of the political cost of Katrina. Certainly, President George W. Bush's response is far different today than it was three years ago. Orders then to deploy the National Guard, for instance, were not issued until two days after the hurricane struck by which time the city had seen widespread looting.

The administration's lethargy and lack of knowledge epitomised by the federal government's woeful initial response will not happen this time around. Bush has arrived in the storm states, instead of at the convention, to oversee relief efforts.

With an election just two months away, a weak response by the White House to this act of nature would be catastrophic. Global warming is not the only reason that storms occur in the ocean. Long before the planet was warming up, the Carribbean and Gulf states of the US were "storm country''. But global warming does increase both the frequency and strength.

No future US president can afford to be as dismissive about the threat as this one has been. The environment remains one of the few areas of genuine difference between John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and the White House and it will be played up in an otherwise subdued party conference.

But if there is any silver lining to the storm clouds for the Republicans, it is at least Gustav can show that McCain is different and one who believes that the planet is in need of serious political attention. The less Bush appears, or is mentioned at the convention, the better it will be for McCain.