As storm Isaac twists toward the Gulf coast people seem to be relaxing since it is only projected to be a category 1 storm at landfall. Remember that for all the breathless concern about hurricane Katrina when it was a category 5 storm in the Gulf of Mexico, it was only a category 1 storm when it hit New Orleans. The real damage came from neglect of the infrastructure protecting the city, the dike system which failed and drowned the homes of tens of thousands of residents. Thousands lost their lives...more lost their livlihood.

The real disaster was the failure of a government agency charged with constructing and maintaining public works. That agency, The Army Corps of Engineers, had been gradually weakened by legislative action and neglect because the Corps often stood in the way of corporate interests. The Corps has the first and last word on development in and around waterways, setting the standards which developers have to meet. These cost money and lower profits so corporations and rich developers naturally act to weaken the Corps by funneling money to politicians who will serve them by weakening regulatory bodies that are supposed to protect the American people.

There is a direct parallel with our very own TVA disaster. At the time it occurred TVA was operating under a provisional TDEC permit and was in violation of engineering standards for that kind of waste storage facility. Had TDEC not been weakened by years of a thousand cuts by our state legislators the story would have been different, and TVA would have saved itself and us rate payers billions of dollars. Short term thinking and weakened protective regulatory agencies are not in the best interests of anyone except the unprincipled few who rake in millions of dollars at our expense whenever there is a disaster. Remember this as we watch Governor Haslam pull the teeth of TDEC. At some point his actions will again cost us big.

There are two prongs of a remedy. First we must have strong and effective state and federal agencies to set and enforce standards. Second, we the people must remain vigilant in making sure those agencies serve us and not the moneyed interests they serve now. "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."