Latest Mississippi River Delta news: November 13, 2012

David Vitter ready for top GOP environment panel job
By Erica Martinson, Politico. Nov. 13, 2012.
“Sens. David Vitter and Barbara Boxer have something in common.

At least that’s what the conservative Louisiana senator hopes as he prepares to takes over the top Republican slot on the Environment and Public Works Committee…” (Read more)

OPINION: We need to keep the money at home in La.
By U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, The Houma Courier (Houma, La.). Nov. 13, 2012.
“When slow-moving Hurricane Isaac wreaked havoc on many of our communities with punishing wind and subsequent flood waters, it refocused for us the vulnerability of our coast and the critical need for immediate investments to protect our culturally rich region…” (Read more)

Addressing safety becomes group effort post-spill
By Jeremy Alford, The Daily Comet (Thibodaux, La.). Nov. 13, 2012.
“BATON ROUGE — Of all the takeaways to emerge from BP’s oil spill more than two years ago, safety has arguably been the most consistent…” (Read more)

Feds: Levee System Did Not Cause Isaac Flooding
By Insurance Journal. Nov. 12, 2012.
“Federal officials say in a report released Nov. 9 that improvements to the New Orleans-area levee system did not cause Hurricane Isaac’s storm-surge flooding of areas in Louisiana that were not inundated during Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav…” (Read more)

Louisiana seafood marketed to consumer with emphasis on its origins
By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). Nov. 12, 2012.
“From boats named Lil Man, Slow Ride, Miss Brittany G and the T-Turbo tied to the docks at the Port of Delcambre, consumers can purchase fresh Vermilion Parish white shrimp directly from the fishers who caught it earlier that day. It is one of many similar programs throughout the state — often called sea-to-plate, or boat-to-fork — in which the digital arena is bridging the gap between Gulf of Mexico waters and the dining table…” (Read more)

Between a Soft and a Hard Place
By Julie V. Iovine, The Wall Street Journal. Nov. 12, 2012.
“The 14-foot storm tides that recently submerged lower Manhattan and battered waterfront communities across the city demonstrated the destructive force of naturally weaponized water. And in the days immediately following Sandy’s retreat, engineers, planners and architects started to consider what preparations are needed to better battle the next storm…” (Read more)

Boat launches, safe harbors improved with grant money
By Nikki Buskey, The Houma Courier (Houma, La.). Nov. 12, 2012.
“Terrebonne fishermen will benefit from upgrades to three marinas and get two safe harbors to shelter their boats from storms.

The Louisiana Office of Community Development’s Disaster Recovery Unit announced the completion of these $1.3 million projects Thursday. The projects were paid for using disaster-recovery grants from hurricanes Katrina and Rita…” (Read more)

Hurricane Sandy Challenges Short-Term Thinking On Nation’s Coasts
By Tom Zeller Jr., The Huffington Post. Nov. 12, 2012.
“Back in 2003, Jordan Rappaport, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, published a now-highly cited paper in the Journal of Economic Growth noting that, despite the country’s folkloric affinity for the open frontier, America is an aggressively coastal nation…” (Read more)

Interview with Ocean Conservancy’s Bethany Kraft on Restoring the Gulf of Mexico
By Steve Newborn, WUSF News (Tampa, Fla.). Nov. 12, 2012.
“Nearly two years ago, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster devastated the Gulf of Mexico, affecting the region’s economy, wildlife and waterfront communities. But a critical piece of legislation could help make it right in the Gulf by providing the funding needed to restore the region’s natural resources…” (Read more)

Corps releases evaluation of Isaac’s storm surge
By Amy Wold, The (Baton Rouge) Advocate. Nov. 12, 2012.
“NEW ORLEANS — The improved levee protection around the greater New Orleans area had little effect on the extensive flooding in areas like LaPlace or Braithwaite during Hurricane Isaac, according to an evaluation released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday…” (Read more)

Sandy’s wrath stirs painful Katrina memories
By Stacey Plaisance, Associated Press. Nov. 11, 2012.
“NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The chaos wrought by Superstorm Sandy, the homes tossed from foundations and landmarks buried beneath seawater, delivered a gut-wrenching dose of deja vu for survivors of Hurricane Katrina like Joe and Gloria Robert…” (Read more)

Millions sought for levees
By Jeremy Alford, The Houma Courier (Houma, La.). Nov. 10, 2012.
“BATON ROUGE — Gov. Bobby Jindal is asking the state Bond Commission to approve $26.5 million for the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane-protection project, and the request is expected to be approved…” (Read more)

Oil-spill repairs’ pace too slow, state claims
By Nikki Buskey, The Houma Courier (Houma, La.). Nov. 10, 2012.
“BP’s early program to repair environmental damage from its 2010 oil spill is not moving quickly enough, Louisiana officials said…” (Read more)

Blame Hurricane Isaac, not post-Katrina levee system, for high surge, corps study says
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). Nov. 9, 2012.
“Hurricane Isaac’s storm surge flooding of areas that were not inundated during Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav can’t be blamed on post-Katrina improvements in the New Orleans area levee system, according to a post-storm study by the Army Corps of Engineers…” (Read more)

The Debt We Owe Katrina
By Daniel Wolff, Op-Ed Contributor to The New York Times. Nov. 9, 2012.
“NEW YORK, New Jersey and the Northeastern seaboard owe a debt of gratitude to Hurricane Katrina…” (Read more)

After Sandy, there’s no denying global warming: Bob Marshall
By Bob Marshall, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). Nov. 8, 2012.
“They say if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. If that boast holds, then Hurricane Sandy may have done more for the future of southeast Louisiana than any of Louisiana’s current political leadership…” (Read more)

Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Trustees Call for Public Input on Next Round of Gulf Restoration
By The Maritime Executive. Nov. 8, 2012.
“The Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) trustees (Trustees) have released the Deepwater Horizon Phase II Draft Early Restoration Plan & Environmental Review (DERP/ER) for public review and comment…” (Read more)

New exhibit reveals shifting coastline
By Nikki Buskey, The Houma Courier (Houma, La.). Nov. 8, 2012.
“A new exhibit at Houma’s Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum depicts the shifting patterns of south Louisiana’s eroding coastline with a stark and haunting beauty…” (Read more)