Mardi Gras Pass: Compromise will be key
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By Emily Guidry Schatzel, Communications Manager, National Wildlife Federation Recent news reports suggest that the potential for compromise exists in the case of Mardi Gras Pass, the newest known distributary of the Mississippi River. The pass was discovered in 2012 when the river cut a channel through its bank in the Bohemia Spillway, a stretch without levees, giving an exciting and rare view at how a natural delta system operates. While the pass promises ecological prosperity for the delta, the …
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Louisiana public meetings: Feb. 19-21
The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council is holding public meetings to get public opinion on how RESTORE Act dollars should be spent, and we invite you to attend and be a voice for environmental restoration. The Restoration Council is looking for public input on their draft Comprehensive Plan for Gulf Coast restoration which will outline how RESTORE Act dollars from the BP oil spill will be translated into restoration projects. To make the gulf whole, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council must make a concerted …
Path Forward plan must focus on ecosystem restoration
By Whit Remer, Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council recently released “The Path Forward to Restoring the Gulf Coast: A Proposed Comprehensive Plan.” The RESTORE Act, signed into law in July, required the newly created Restoration Council to publish a Proposed Plan within six months of the legislation becoming law. Only six pages in length, the Path Forward provides a general framework for the Restoration Council to follow while developing their more robust Initial Comprehensive …
Tagged Economics, ReportsBP Oil Spill: 1,000 Days Later
It’s been exactly 1,000 days since the BP-operated oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, gushing millions of barrels of crude oil into a body of water that supports countless ecosystems and economies. Below is a timeline of major events that have occurred in the last 1,000 days. Tell BP to stop stalling, take responsibility, and pay the maximum Clean Water Act fines for which they are liable — now! Sources: – Restorethegulf.org, “First oiled bird is recovered.” – …
Tagged EconomicsNew market opportunities for carbon sequestration in wetlands
By Shannon Hood, Environmental Defense Fund Terrestrial carbon sequestration is the process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is taken up by plants through photosynthesis and stored as carbon in biomass and soil. During the process of photosynthesis, plants take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, coupled with sunlight and water, and turn it into sugar and oxygen, allowing them to act as long-term storage facilities for carbon (“carbon sinks”). Some carbon is re-emitted during the process of respiration, but overall, vegetated …
Tagged EconomicsGulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Convenes for First Time, Discusses Restoration Plan
By Whit Remer, Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund Last week, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council held its first public meeting in Mobile, Ala. to update residents on the progress of implementing the RESTORE Act. The law, which Congress passed in June 2012, dedicates 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the BP oil spill back to the Gulf Coast for restoration. Those fines, expected to reach billions of dollars, will help stabilize and revive troubled ecosystems across the …
SMART Solutions for Restoration: The Second Summit on Coastal Restoration in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes
By Maura Wood, National Wildlife Federation On Oct. 31, 2012, Garret Graves, director of Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), spoke at the Second Summit on Coastal Restoration in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes held at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La. At the time, summit attendees were unaware of the proposed settlement on criminal penalties against BP for oil spill damages that would designate a sizable portion of these funds over the next five years to river diversions and …
Study on sedimentation will help planners develop effective river diversions
By Alisha A. Renfro, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, National Wildlife Federation This year, drought conditions throughout most of the country have left the Mississippi River flowing at a near all-time low. This is a stark comparison to 2011, when heavy rains and a large snowmelt in the spring sent record levels of water and sediment flowing down the river. At the Old River Control Structure north of Baton Rouge, the flow of the river is split, with 70 percent continuing down …
Tagged ReportsWhat the BP criminal settlement means for Gulf Coast restoration
By Whit Remer, Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund Just in time for the holidays, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) delivered welcomed and unexpected good news for Gulf Coast restoration efforts. On November 15, DOJ announced they had reached a settlement with BP on all criminal charges related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. But what was expected to be a simple press conference outlining the details of the criminal plea agreement turned out to be a huge $2.4 …
A Look at the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force’s Science Coordination Team
By Alisha Renfro, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, National Wildlife Federation In the aftermath of the BP oil disaster, President Obama created the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force through an executive order in October 2010. The mission of this Environmental Protection Agency-led group was to develop a long-term, holistic and science-based ecosystem restoration plan for the Gulf Coast. Included in this effort was the Science Coordination Team which involved more than 70 scientists from federal and state agencies who provided scientific …
Tagged ReportsEnvironmental Groups Praise Historic Criminal Settlement
CONTACTS: Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, eskree@edf.org Erin Greeson, National Audubon Society, 503.913.8978, egreeson@audubon.org Lacey McCormick, National Wildlife Federation, 512.203.3016, mccormick@nwf.org Scott Madere, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, 225.767.4181, scottm@crcl.org John Lopez, Lake Pontchartrain Basin, 604.421.7348, johnlopez@pobox.com Environmental Groups Praise Historic Criminal Settlement Using BP criminal penalties for restoration a step forward to unprecedented civil fines Leading conservation groups praised the Department of Justice for reaching a historic $4.5 billion settlement on the criminal charges stemming from the 2010 BP oil disaster. This settlement will send $1.2 billion to coastal Louisiana restoration projects with an …
Oil spill trustees unveil second round of early gulf restoration projects
By Whit Remer, Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund Today, Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident announced two additional early NRDA restoration projects. The NRDA Trustees include representatives from the five Gulf Coast states and four federal agencies who are charged with assessing damage to natural resources, such as marshes, sea grasses, birds, and marine mammals, caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In April 2012, the Deepwater Horizon NRDA Trustees finalized the …
West Bay Diversion to Remain Open
This was originally posted on the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana’s Coastal Currents blog. The much-debated West Bay Diversion will remain open for at least the next 10 years. That’s the word from the CWPPRA Task Force, which reversed its own 2008 decision to close the sediment diversion at its meeting on Thursday, October 12, 2012. The move keeps open one of the few land-building diversions off of the Mississippi River, allowing sediment in nearby wetlands to continue to accumulate. Researchers …
The Power of We: The Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign
By Happy Johnson, Amanda Moore and Elizabeth Skree Our Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign works to reconnect the Mississippi River to its delta to protect people, wildlife and jobs. At our core, we are the “Power of We”: a coalition of five national and local non-governmental organizations — the National Audubon Society, Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation — working together to save a national treasure: the Mississippi River Delta. The …
The People Have Spoken
By Amanda Moore, National Wildlife Federation On September 6, restoration along the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) passed another important milestone with completion of the final public comment period for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ planning process. It’s a milestone worth honoring, because almost 49,000 people commented on the plan and the need to prioritize restoration of the area. These comments were collected through nonprofit organizations affiliated with the MRGO Must Go Coalition, and since last year, over 75,000 …