similar quakes and other natural disasters in the future? joining me now to discuss this is christian parente, author of the book chaos of climate change and the knew geography of violence and i put to you you straight away how well prepared is the east coast for an earthquake? well, we don t quite know. that s part of it. the nrc is actually doing a review after fukushima to look into the the safety of plants in terms of earthquakes and other things, and, you know, one thing we do know is that plants in the west coast were built to higher seismic standards to the east coast, so it turns out indian point outside new york is the most vulnerable. but what, you know, the plants seem to have done fine. it s important to remember what happened in fukushima. it wasn t actually the reactors damaged by the earthquake. it was the weakest link in the whole safety features that was problematic. the wall held, the tsunami just crested the wall, and then it flooded the grounds, and the backup
run. and it s just been announced that french president nicolas sarkozy, along with british prime minister david cameron, will host a major international conference in paris on september the 1st to discuss the transition from military to civilian cooperation. that s a poignant date as colonel gadhafi came to power september the 1st, 1969. and at this very moment nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel is on the ground in libya with the latest. richard? reporter: a degree of chaos is starting to spread in this city. gadhafi gone, his compound taken over, ransacked by rebels. today they were just picking through, taking away furniture and whatever else they could find from within gadhafi s compound, but on the streets no one is really in charge. rebels are setting up checkpoints, but they are also firing in the air and looking for gadhafi loyalists. and whenever they find them, or whenever they think they find them, the rebels start firing, and often there have been exc
broadcast on arabic television there is little doubt that gadhafi is alive, and u.s. officials believe he s still in libya. rebels have offered a $1 million reward for anyone who captures or kills gadhafi, and the national transitional council is offering amnesty to anyone in gadhafi s circle who may turn on the leader. but as of now, he s still on the run. and it s just been announced that french president nicolas sarkozy, along with british prime minister david cameron, will host a major international conference in paris on september the 1st to discuss the transition from military to civilian cooperation. that s a poignant date as colonel gadhafi came to power september the 1st, 1969. and at this very moment nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel is on the ground in libya with the latest. richard? reporter: a degree of chaos is starting to spread in this city. gadhafi gone, his compound taken over, ransacked by rebels. today they were just picking through, taking a
period for severe weather from seven days down to as few as three days. there is no way they can avoid compromising the programs that safeguard our country, he said. and marsha mcnut director of the u.s. geological survey was even more blunt, warning house republicans about the cuts they ve already voted for which would cause 21-day furloughs at u.s. tsunami warning centers and cripple america s ability to maintain its tsunami warning buoys or analyze their data. japan was just hit by a tragic and devastating 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. shame on us if we don t learn from their misfortune. christian parente joins us tonight contributing editor of the nation magazine and author of the upcoming book tropic of chaos, climate change and the new geography of violence. thanks for your time tonight. thanks for having me on. what do you make of these cuts? are they as devastating as
programs reducing our warning period for severe weather from seven days down to as few as three days. there is no way they can avoid compromising the programs that safeguard our country, he said. and marsha mcnut director of the u.s. geological survey was even more blunt, warning house republicans about the cuts they ve already voted for which would cause 21-day furloughs at u.s. tsunami warning centers and cripple america s ability to maintain its tsunami warning buoys or analyze their data. japan was just hit by a tragic and devastating 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. shame on us if we don t learn from their misfortune. christian parente joins us tonight contributing editor of the nation magazine and author of the upcoming book tropic of chaos, climate change and the new geography of violence. thanks for your time tonight. thanks for having me on.