Funding & Policy

Scientists suggest evaluating ecosystem services to better understand Gulf oil spill impacts

Scientists suggest evaluating ecosystem services to better understand Gulf oil spill impacts

By Alisha Renfro, Ph.D., National Wildlife Federation On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon platform exploded, resulting in a spill of 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Under the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990, this oil spill triggered the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process, which determines the extent and severity of the injury to natural resources. The complexity of the GoM ecosystem—coupled with the scale of the event—poses a serious challenge to …

Trustees Take First Step Towards Gulf Restoration in Release of Draft Early Restoration Plan

By Whit Remer, Environmental Defense Fund On Wednesday (Dec. 14), the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees released a draft restoration plan laying out the first phase of early projects funded under BP’s $1 billion dollar down payment to restore the Gulf. The draft plan (known as DERP/EA or “Draft Early Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment) includes a total of eight projects that will be built across four states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The public will have 60 days …

Join today's RESTORE Act Facebook Day of Action!

Today is our RESTORE Act Facebook Day of Action!  Thank you to everyone who participated in yesterday’s RESTORE Act Twitter Day of Action, it was very successful! Anyone with a Facebook account can participate in today’s Day of Action, urging Senators Reid and McConnell to make the RESTORE Act a priority.  All you have to do is share THIS PHOTO with  your friends. You can write your own message, or you can use one of the following messages: Using money from …

84% of Florida Voters Support Bill to Spend BP Fines on Gulf Restoration

75% of State Voters More Likely to Support Candidates Who Back Bill (Tallahassee, Fla.—Dec. 12, 2011) Eighty-four percent of Florida voters and 92 percent of Panhandle voters support a bill approved by a Senate committee that would ensure the BP oil spill fines are spent on Gulf restoration, according to a new poll released today at news conferences in Tallahassee and Pensacola. The poll also showed 75 percent of Florida voters and 82 percent of Panhandle voters are more likely …

Join the RESTORE Act Social Media Days of Action!

By Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund Today and tomorrow, we are asking everyone to participate in Twitter (today) and Facebook (tomorrow) Social Media Days of Action around the RESTORE Act, urging Congress to make the bill a priority this year. The RESTORE Act will ensure that 80 percent of the Gulf oil spill Clean Water Act penalties that BP and other responsible parties will have to pay will be returned the Gulf States that deserve it. We need Congress to …

House Committee Holds Hearing to Advance RESTORE Act

By Whit Remer, Environmental Defense Fund On Wednesday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee held a hearing on the RESTORE Act (H.R. 3096), a bill that would ensure that fines paid by BP and the other parties responsible for last year’s Gulf oil spill are used to support both environmental and economic restoration in the region. Rep. John Mica (R-FL) Chairman of the T&I Committee held the hearing to “hear everyone out in an open forum.” Rep. Mica said …

House Committee Praised for Holding Hearing on Gulf Restoration

Hearing follows two new reports recommending Congress use oil spill fines to restore Gulf (Washington, D.C.—Dec. 7, 2011) Groups supporting restoration of the Gulf Coast today thanked House leaders on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for drawing attention to the benefits of the RESTORE Gulf Coast States Act of 2011 by holding a committee hearing on the bill today at 10am. The RESTORE Act would ensure that fines paid by BP and the other parties responsible for last year’s Gulf …

Task Force Restoration Strategy is a Vital Next Step Toward Whole Gulf Recovery

By Elizabeth Skree and Whit Remer, Environmental Defense Fund Today, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force released their final Ecosystem Restoration Strategy for the Gulf Coast.  After the BP oil disaster, the President established the Task Force through an executive order and charged the group with developing a restoration plan for the Gulf Coast.  You can download the strategy document here. This restoration strategy is a vital step in fulfilling the promises President Obama made in his first oval …

RESTORE Act Fines Could Provide Job Opportunities in Gulf Coast, 32 Other States

Economic Study Released 2 Days Before House Hearing on RESTORE Act  (Tallahassee, FL–December 5, 2011) The Clean Water Act penalties from last year’s BP oil disaster could kick start the launch of a long-term investment in ecosystem restoration and create jobs that would benefit at least 140 businesses with nearly 400 employee locations in 37 states, including more than 260 in the Gulf Coast and nearly 60 in Florida, according to a new Duke University study. The report—“RESTORING THE GULF …

NWF Releases Comprehensive Guide to Louisiana Nonstructural Programs

Over the past few months, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has contracted the National Hazard Mitigation Association (NHMA) to develop a white paper report that captures the state of nonstructural mitigation in Louisiana. The report, “Safe, Secure, and Sustainable: Advancing Nonstructural Hazard Mitigation in Coastal Louisiana,” describes the challenges and impediments that have plagued the nonstructural programs of the past and provides recommendations to improve programs at both the local implementation and national policy levels. Report appendices include a 300-page comprehensive …

New Orleans Restoration Project Will Increase Resiliency, Create Jobs

By Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund On Nov. 10, the City of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish broke ground on the important and innovative $10 million Central Wetlands Assimilation Project. On hand for the ceremony were New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro, members of the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board and approximately 75 others representing community organizations, environmental non-profits and other interested parties. All agree the project is a critical first step towards …

Gulf Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Provides Restoration Opportunities

By Whit Remer, Environmental Defense Fund Policymakers, scientists, and environmental advocates gathered earlier this month in Baltimore, Md. to explore the long-term impacts that oil from BP’s Deepwater Horizon may have on natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico. The symposium titled, “NRDA for the Gulf: Improving Our Ability to Quantify Chronic Damages,” highlighted both the challenges and opportunities of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA). NRDA is the scientific and legal process used by the government to restore natural …

Nickelodeon Video Highlights Chalmette Students' Coastal Restoration Efforts

By Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation Nickelodeon’s “The Big Help” teamed up with National Wildlife Federation (NWF) for Earth Day 2011 to spotlight outstanding students making a difference in their communities through environmental stewardship. Sure enough, the search for awesome kids ended in St. Bernard Parish, where students in Chalmette High School’s Leadership Initiative have planted over 50,000 cypress trees since Hurricane Katrina. The students, who experienced first-hand the massive destruction of Katrina and the BP oil disaster, are very much …

Groups Praise Momentum on Gulf Restoration as House Introduces Bill and Task Force Calls for Bold Action

Bill dedicates oil spill fines to restore Gulf ecosystems, communities & economies  NEWS RELEASE  (Washington, D.C.—October 5, 2011) A coalition of groups supporting Gulf restoration thanked Members from both sides of the aisle who introduced a bill today that will ensure that 80 percent of penalties paid by BP and others responsible for last year’s Gulf oil disaster are used to help restore the region, not for unrelated federal spending.  The RESTORE Gulf Coast States Act of 2011 was introduced …

Video: New Orleans community members tour local restoration projects

By Happy Johnson, National Wildlife Federation On September 9, life-long community residents and civic leaders from New Orleans’ Historic Lower 9th Ward took a boat tour of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Surge Barrier (IHNC), to see the structure up close and engage in discussions with local non-profit representatives about the critical importance of hurricane protection and ecosystem restoration. The tour was sponsored by the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development (CSED), Lake Pontchatrain Basin Foundation, Gulf Restoration …