Latest news: March 12, 2012

Louisiana’s ambitious coastal vision
By Neela Banerjee, The Los Angeles Times. March 11, 2012.
“Reporting from Venice, La.— On an unseasonably warm winter morning, Earl Armstrong Jr. eases his airboat out of the slip, past a fishing crew hacking up a shark on the pier and a canal strung with hunting camps on stilts, into the broad waters of West Bay…” (Read more)

Big win for the coast: An editorial
Editorial. The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). March 11, 2012.
“Legislation that will send 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the BP oil spill to Louisiana and its Gulf Coast neighbors took a significant leap forward in Congress last week when the Senate voted to add it to a transportation spending bill…” (Read more)

Another step to RESTORE the Gulf (editorial)
Editorial, Press-Register (Mobile, Ala.). March 10, 2012.
“WITH THE passage of the RESTORE Act in the U.S. Senate, the five Southeastern states are much closer to getting the resources they need to become stronger caretakers of the Gulf of Mexico…” (Read more)

Rubio stands alone on Restore Act
The Tampa Bay Times. March 9, 2012.
“U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio was the only Gulf state senator yesterday to vote against the Restore Act, the legislation that would dedicate 80 percent of BP oil spill fees to the region. His vote followed a warning by Grover Norquist’s anti-tax group that offsets in the measure violate The Pledge…” (Read more)

Local seafood industry still wary of BP claims process.
By Cara Bayles, The Houma Courier (Houma, La.). March 10, 2012.
“The details of a proposed March 3 settlement over economic losses stemming from the 2010 BP oil spill are being released slowly…” (Read more)

Whistling ducks flocking to Audubon Park
By Bob Marshall, The Times-Picayune. March 11, 2012.
“One of the most fascinating and valuable things about wildlife is that it serves as environmental monitors for us human residents as it constantly adapts to changes in the natural world that we may not notice. Audubon Park’s changing bird population is a case in point…” (Read more)

BP oil spill health settlement details are still a mystery
By Rebecca Mowbray, The Times-Picayune. March 11, 2012.
“In the BP oil spill case, the health settlement negotiated last weekend between BP and attorneys for private plaintiffs in the oil spill litigation makes tens of thousands of new people eligible for care and compensation from the disaster, and it could make a meaningful difference in the delivery of mental and physical health care in small coastal communities…” (Read more)

Charter fishermen continue to struggle after oil spill
By Cara Bayles, The Daily Comet (Lafourche Parish, La.). March 10, 2012.
“Chip Seeber has been a charter boat captain 16 years, but over the past year or so, he has also driven trucks, done carpentry and mowed lawns — whatever he can do to supplement his dwindling income…” (Read more)