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Jindal's Eruption of Hot Gas
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In a bizarre moment from Bobby Jindal's speech last night, the Louisiana governor dumped on President Obama for funding "something called 'volcanic monitoring.'" Top geologists tell the Daily Beast that the governor needs to do his homework.
The country is facing two wars, an unprecedented economic crisis, and global environmental hazards, but Bobby Jindal last night decided to call attention to one of the stranger problems one could think of: overprotecting Americans from volcanoes.
In his response to President Obama's address, Jindal said he opposed the stimulus package's inclusion of “$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring.'”
“Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C,” Jindal said.
While the claim was factually inaccurate (the $140 million will go to the US Geological Survey, of which volcanic research is only a part), scientists are also decrying Jindal's comments as a blast of hot volcanic air.
“I would give the honorable governor poor marks for his education,” one geologist who has studied volcanoes said.
“Apparently the governor of Louisiana doesn't remember any of the major volcanic eruptions in recent history,” said Mark Brandon, a professor of geology at Yale University who has studied volcanoes around the world. “Volcanic monitoring right now is absolutely essential for protecting lives and property. The amount of money invested compared to the amount of money returned is trivial. It's not just some hobby—if the governor were in a volcanic eruption, he'd realize that the people who do that work are very useful in protecting you from direct hazards.”
Brandon was a student at University of Washington when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, killing 57 people and destroying hundreds of homes. Many more would almost certainly have died without the volcanic monitoring that allowed authorities to evacuate the population ahead of time.
“I would give the honorable governor poor marks for his education,” Brandon said. “It's just naïve to live in a world where everything goes as you expect. The classic example of lack of awareness of this kind of hazard is the 2004 Sumatra earthquake, which led to that devastating tsunami. People had lost memory of what happened because the last one was several generations ago, and that's an example of how infrequent hazards can be particularly devastating, because we just don't have the generational experience.”
He said that increased monitoring was “our investment against these hazards,” and crucial to spotting signs of similar once-in-a-century or once-in-a-millennium events.
Several other scientists expressed similar disbelief at Jindal's attack on their work, which was especially surprising given Louisiana's experience fending off a rare natural disaster in Hurricane Katrina.
“I was kind of taken aback by the way volcanic monitoring was portrayed in the speech,” said Brad Singer, a professor of geology at the University of Wisconsin. “Every once in awhile there's some odd science research going on that sounds so out there that it's not useful and even I can laugh at some of those. But volcano monitoring is a serious business. I would say there are hundreds of thousands of people in the US who live in the sphere of hazard associated with many individual volcanoes.”
As Singer pointed out, there are volcanic tremors and other disturbances going on right now at Mt. Redoubt in Alaska, where a more severe incident could threaten the population of Anchorage. Thanks to monitoring, authorities might be able to order an evacuation should one be necessary, as was done with the area surrounding Mount St. Helens in 1980. Another hazard that volcano monitoring can mitigate is threats to aircrafts that pass through clouds of ash. There have been cases where 747s have had engines stall out at high altitudes while passing through unexpected patches of volcanic ash, causing them to drop thousands of feet before regaining control and sometimes obscuring visibility entirely. One such case in 1989 caused $80 million in damage to an Anchorage-bound flight that lost power for five minutes after running into ash from an erupting Mt. Redoubt. Another hazard: fast-moving mudflows caused by melting ice after an eruption, which can travel at 60 mph and devastate everything in their path. Seattle is partly built on one such mudflow, created only several thousand years ago.
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wagthedog1001
Rare natural disasters are no more rare and even more predictable than the political disasters the GOP seems to think we should spend ourselves into debt for in unnecessary wars. You would think the Governor of Louisiana OF ALL PEOPLE would have an inkling about natural disasters. As many have been saying all day, if this is the best the GOP has to offer there will be an even greater political disaster in the next few years as the "Grand Opposing Party" becomes less and less relevant.
pacifistgunslinger
Another Republican who doesn't know anything about science. What a shock.
Ritarita
If the Republican strategy is to make Bobby Jindal the
poster boy for their comeback -
'Republican strategy' will be in the dictionary as an example
of an oxymoron - right next to jumbo shrimp.
VenusMuse
Unlike Obama's eloquent rehetorical speeches, Bobby speaks with substance. Talk about questionable volcano errors, have you already forgotten the numerous errors in O's speech, in particular, his statement boasting that America invented the first car? No, that was Germany Obama. A guy by the name of Benz.
Groovymarlin
The anti-intellectualism that pervades the GOP is just plain sickening. It's not just ignorance - it's WILLFUL ignorance. This harping on the volcanic monitoring is just the latest example. Remember dummy Palin's complaints about funding for research on fruit flies? You know...the universally respected scientific research that has been done for decades and taught us so much about genetics, disease, etc.? They never change, these Republican blowhards.
keinsignal
Right, because what's important is Obama's stimulus plan will go back in time and cause the automobile not to be invented *at all* and then where will we be? Riding trains like a bunch of filthy communist European Nazis is where.
xbainx
Why do Republicans have to be so willfully ignorant? Volcanic eruptions can be predicted. So can earthquakes and the weather. This also requires scientist, who last time I checked buy houses and cars. This was supposed to be his "marsh-mouse" moment except it's dumb. I don't like all the name calling involved in politics, but when people call Jindal, and Steel and Palin dumb, what they mean is exasperating liars. As in: there is no way they believe what they are saying, but say it anyway to score a point. The Republicans love buzzwords like Lib and Weak and Socialist Commie Fascist. But the only word for them is liar. No need to go into the harsher realm of what an effing idiot, because even Jindal doesn't believe it.
CWCoulter
Here is the part where everyone from the left over-analyzes the rebuttal as though post-speech rebuttals are the most important moment of the evening.
Very little was said about then rising star Governor Tim Kaine after he rebutted Bush not long ago.
But this tactic does serve the left well. It keeps everyone from discussing the president's lack of specifics. And that is change you can depend on.
It is almost as if the left lost the last election. This relentless game of offense calls to mind Karl Rove. Let us all hope the emperor is wearing clothes this time around.
CWCoulter
I hope your relentless ranting is doing you some good. It makes for dull reading. Name calling - nice. And there is always the straw man bit. People are always putting up this Republican who calls them commies. I don't think of Democrats as communists, at any rate. The anger out there, though. My, my, my. We're all just so bothered by each other. It's rather sad.
magicman
OK, this is good work. Kudos to the Obama Administration for listening. Now let the Scientists fill you in on the details of what has already been predicted. We have a real chance at saving lives here. Kudos to the Dems on this one!
roger37
Piyush evidently thinks that the demons that cause volcanic eruptions can be exorcised.
He's a wacko, folks.
bigwurzz
I got 5 to 1 that says this Jindal dude gets caught knee deep in truckers on I80 in Nebraska before he ever has a chance to run for president. Typical Republican.
bigwurzz
naked truckers that is
DaddyMark
Is anybody here capable of rational thought?? It's an economic stimulus...Jindal is making the point that this does not fall within the parameters of stimulating the economy. Who cares what causes a volcano, that's not the point. Had anyone bothered to read the stimulus package you would find billions of dollars being spent on programs that have absolutely nothing to do with our economy. Some of the programs are well intentioned nonetheless but have nothing at all to do with our economy. PLEASE at least act like you are thinking about what you are writing. The use of terms like anti-intellectualism and willful ignorance and Republican strategy being an oxymoron only serve to shine the light of idiocy right back into your own face. Wake up, leave partisan politics off the table for a change and actually read what is in front of you. Shills for Obama take note, as you sit on your throne of imperical evidence, he is not a leader nor does he exhibit any more understanding of our current economic situation than what we all can read in the daily news.
billybob
VenusMuse - what else do you have. One mistake? Pretty sure a lot of people thought that Henry Ford invented the automobile - is that really all that bad??????? You guys are nuts
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