There are two ways to look at the global warming alarmists: Either they're like Chicken Little, shouting that "the sky is falling" because he did not understand that falling acorns and leaves do not foretell catastrophe; or they're like Noah, the biblical man of faith who said God had warned him that a great and destructive flood was coming and told him how to prepare for it.
 
In either case, the audience must choose whether to believe the messenger. 
 
For the most part, black America has been disengaged from environmentalism as a movement, largely because most of us are consumed with the daily grind, the here and now, and consider long-range cause and effect a luxurious concern. For many of us, our inner environmentalist went no further than participating in anti-littering campaigns and, later, recycling. Like the rest of the country, the black community gives only passing notice to the big picture stuff - air, water and soil pollution;  toxic waste disposal, carbon footprints and sulfur emissions.
 
But, provided you choose the Noah scenario over the Chicken Little one, we should be at the fore of the climate change debate since we stand to suffer the greatest impact of shifts in weather systems and temperatures. We are already more vulnerable to respiratory diseases, inadequate housing and toxic exposure than other populations in the country.
 
According to health statistics, blacks are three times more likely to be hospitalized for or die from asthma, a condition that is aggravated by allergens, dirty air and poor circulation. At the same time, 70 percent of us also live in urban areas where the air quality does not meet federal standards. Coincidence?   Blacks and poor people are more likely to be the ones living next door or around the bend from toxic waste dumps, oil refineries and power plants - all of which make basic things like breathing, sleeping and eating more difficult or hazardous, if not doing something even worse, like causing cancer.
 
Imagine what awaits us if, because of greenhouse emissions and other human recklessness, Earth's chemistry changes so drastically that there are more and worse storms than we are prepared to handle; if clean, potable water is less available; if more toxins seep into the soil and water supply; if the air is laden with allergens and pollutants.

Imagine the scramble for higher ground to avoid the flooding. Or real estate ads touting "a clean air community" and how expensive it would be to live there. Or paying a premium for a bottle of "clean" water.
 
We do not want to be like Noah's neighbors, banging on the hub of the ark, begging to be let in because they did not believe the old man when there was time to save themselves. Although the New Orleans disaster was not directly related to climate change - the flooding was caused by the failure of man-made structures, which succumbed to the hurricane's deluge - the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina lends a preview to what catastrophic climate change could bring. Mass uprooting. Mass homelessness and hunger. Mass injury and illness. In the very least, mass desperation.
 
Given our historical experiences, there is no reason to believe that, if there is one drop of clean water left, it won't have our names on it. So we must find the wherewithal to engage in this great debate. Our community, our organizations, our advocates should be at the table for every Kyoto, every Rio, every Copenhagen. Our special circumstances should be written into policy and accords, not treated .....

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