Latest news: June 7, 2012

Study: Job growth if BP fines used for coast
By Kevin McGill, Associated Press. June 6, 2012.
“NEW ORLEANS — A study commissioned by two nonprofit groups says thousands of jobs would be created along the Gulf Coast if money from BP oil spill penalties and other sources were dedicated to coastal restoration…” (Read more)

U.S. House approves energy bill with change in wetlands regulations
By Bruce Alpert, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). June 6, 2012.
“WASHINGTON — The House approved a $32.1 billion water and energy spending bill Wednesday that would bar the Army Corps of Engineers from requiring developers to offset wetlands loss from their projects by financing restoration of other threatened wetlands…” (Read more)

Congress might block controversial wetlands policy
By Jordan Blum, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.). June 7, 2012.
“WASHINGTON — Federal legislation is moving forward that would prevent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Louisiana from using a method of calculating wetlands restoration that critics allege is hampering progress on levee protection and business development projects…” (Read more)

Gulf Coast energy, fishing industries should adapt now to climate change, new report says
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. June 6, 2012.
“The energy and fishing industries along the Gulf of Mexico must begin now to adapt to the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, more intense hurricanes, loss of coastal wetlands, and the biological effects of warmer water temperatures, according to a report released at a news conference Wednesday by three Louisiana State University scientists…” (Read more)

BP oil spill disrupted microbes on Gulf Coast beaches, new research shows
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. June 6, 2012.
“Communities of microbial organisms – including nematode worms, single cell animals called protists, and a variety of fungi – that live in the sediment of beaches on Grand Isle, Dauphin Island and elsewhere along the Gulf of Mexico underwent dramatic changes in the months immediately following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a new study published today in the online scientific journal PLos ONE…” (Read more)