Putting New Orleans On the Green Line

Laura Bush couldn't have been more effective if she'd waved a magic wand, but it's hard to compete with Brad Pitt when trying to turn the nation's attention to "green" design.

At the White House on Monday, the first lady appealed to a gathering of National Design Award honorees, urging them to get involved in rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Their legacy, she suggested, would be determined by their efforts to improve the devastated region. She also put in a surprise plug for sustainable design, saying that Hurricane Katrina "gives us the chance to build 'green' buildings and to build energy-saving buildings" -- which made her sound like an early-warning siren for global warming.

from the Washington Post