German Perspective On Katrina

Trittin's spokesman, Michael Schrören, said on Wednesday that "Trittin's comments were true and he wrote what he meant." Trittin, however, is not the only critic of the US environmental policy in Germany. Reinhard Bütikofer, who heads the German Green party, of which Foreign Minister is also a member, called Bush an "eco-reactionary." "Bush conducts his environmental policy from the perspective of oil and nuclear lobby," said Bütikofer. Karsten Voigt, foreign ministry coordinator for German-US cooperation, tried to strike a balance between being critical of US policies and showing sympathy for the United States by saying that Tritten's comments were accurate but badly timed. "One should be more diplomatic than Mr. Trittin was, but there is general consensus in Germany that climate change is a major issue," Voigt said. Too rich to ask for help? Germans donated in record numbers in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami eight months ago. But the situation is different today: the US government has made no call for international aid, and German charity organizations have so far not pledged financial aid for the hurricane-affected regions. "We are at the moment planning no call for help," said Fredrik Barkenhammar of the German Red Cross. According to Barkenhammar, the American Red Cross is financially very well positioned and has, therefore, not asked for outside help. Should the German Red Cross receive any public or private donations for the American disaster relief, the money will be transferred to the US Red Cross, he said. Not exactly a catastrophe? Damage caused by hurricane Katrina will certainly have international consequences, according to Swiss Re, the world's second largest insurance company. The firm said Wednesday that Katrina would cost the insurance industry alone about $20 billion (16.2 billion euros). Many believe, however, that the scope of the disaster is such that the US government, which has one of the most sophisticated crisis management systems in the world at its disposal, should be able to respond to it adequately. "Catastrophe means that a society cannot cope with a situation," said Achim Reinke, spokesperson for the Catholic aid organization Caritas. "We need to stay balanced," Reinke said, pointing out that there are other crisis regions in the world, like Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, that shouldn't be forgotten. Author DW staff (tt) http://www.dw-world.de © Deutsche Welle [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on September 7, 2005]

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