Ten Years after Katrina, What the BP Settlement Means for Louisiana Restoration
← Older posts Newer posts →Ten Years after Katrina, What the BP Settlement Means for Louisiana Restoration
By Steve Cochran, Director, Mississippi River Delta Restoration Program, Environmental Defense Fund Ten years ago, just after Hurricane Katrina, I was asked to talk to Environmental Defense Fund’s board about the place where I grew up, the New Orleans area that had been hit so hard. I remember two things about that discussion. One was my voice breaking unexpectedly (and embarrassingly) as we talked through pictures of the Katrina aftermath and came across places I intimately knew. As an adult, I …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: July 16, 2015
Louisiana coastal board asks fed approval of 4 projects funded with BP spill fines By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. July 15, 2015 “The state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority on Wednesday (July 15) asked the U.S. Department of Treasury to approve its plan to spend $39.4 million promised the state from fines related to the BP oil spill on four complex coastal restoration projects.” (Read More) The BP settlement is only a down payment on the massive coastal restoration …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: July 15, 2015
Plaquemines Parish rejects BP settlement offer as too small By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. July 14, 2015 “Plaquemines Parish has turned down a settlement offer from BP to pay for damages caused during the Deepwater Horizon disaster and oil spill because it was too small to compensate for the losses, two lawyers representing the parish in settlement talks said Monday (July 13). ” (Read More) Katrina 10th anniversary: connection future hurricanes to climate change By Laurie Wiegler, Examiner. July …
Lower 9th Ward CSED Creates Environmental Learning & Research Center
By Rachel Pickens, Esq., Resiliency Manager for Coastal Outreach & Community Awareness, Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development “River to the Bayou” is a phrase often spoken by members the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development (CSED). When CSED was created in December 2006 by Pam Dashiell and Charles Allen, they envisioned rebuilding a more resilient neighborhood, one that stretches from the Mississippi River to Bayou Bienvenue. Learning from Katrina, they realized that resilience …
Tagged EconomicsLatest Mississippi River Delta News: July 14, 2015
The Birds of British Petroleum *features Erik Johnson, NAS & David Muth, NWF By David Gessner, Audubon Magazine. July – August 2015 “There are times you can’t be sure of much in the Gulf, but amid all the confusion, one thing is undeniable: Habitat is going away, and it is going away fast, the land sinking and sea rising like nowhere else on earth, to the point where organizations working in the region report that the Mississippi River Delta loses …
We're Partnering with Dirty Coast to Feature YOUR Coastal Restoration Message!
As we approach the 10th anniversaries of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita – a time when we all learned about the importance of the Louisiana coast as a first line of defense against storms – Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition and Dirty Coast are partnering to feature YOUR coastal restoration messages on t-shirts, bags, posters and other snazzy products that will be sold in Dirty Coast’s New Orleans stores and across the web to help raise awareness and support for Louisiana coastal restoration. Louisiana …
Tagged EconomicsLatest Mississippi River Delta News: July 13, 2015
State works on plan to help keep saltwater from moving into Terrebonne Parish *featuring Simone Maloz, ROR By Amy Wold, The Advocate. July 13, 2015 “The real story is that it prevents the loss of 15,000 acres,” said Simone Theriot Maloz, executive director of the coastal group Restore or Retreat. “We are not even talking about creating land; we’re talking about holding the line.” (Read More) Which cities will feel the effects of climate change the most? By Michele …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: July 10, 2015
1970 study shows impact of MRGO on salinity in part of Lake Pontchartrain Basin *features John Lopez, LPBF By Todd Masson, The Times-Picayune. July 9, 2015 “A Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries study released in 1970 shows how profoundly the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet impacted salinity levels in a significant portion of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin.” (Read More) New Orleans accepts $45 million settlement offer on BP oil spill WWL. July 9, 2015 “Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Thursday announced …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: July 9, 2015
House to White House: Keep hands off oil and gas revenue sharing for Gulf states By Bruce Alpert, The Times-Picayune. July 8, 2015 “These Gulf States not only produce the lion’s share of the infrastructure and workforce for the industry in the Gulf of Mexico, we also have inherent environmental and economic risks,” Byrne said. “The BP oil spill five years ago should tell us all what that means.” (Read More) Rising Mississippi River will trigger more levee, vessel restrictions …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: July 8, 2015
BP Deal Will Lead to a Cleaner Gulf By Editorial Board, The New York Times. July 8, 2015 “Though no amount of money can ever compensate for the staggering damage caused by the 2010 BP oil spill, last week’s provisional $18.7 billion settlement among five states, the federal government and the company will help make amends for one of the worst environmental disasters in American history.” (Read More) MRGO changed seafood makeup of Lake Pontchartrain *features John Lopez, LPBF By …
Deepwater Horizon Settlement – Some Answers, New Questions
This information was originally posted on the Environmental Law Institute’s website. By ELI Gulf Team On July 2, 2015, a monumental announcement was made: an agreement in principle has been reached to settle all federal and state claims against BP arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for $18.732 billion (see BP’s press release here). This amount includes: While we are still waiting on the exact details of the settlement, we do know some of the terms. We will focus on …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: July 7, 2015
Chat with law experts at noon Tuesday about BP oil spill settlement By Jennifer Larino, The Times-Picayune. July 6, 2015 “Who will benefit more from the $18.7 billion Gulf of Mexico oil spill settlement: BP or the Gulf Coast? Chat at noon Tuesday (July 7) with law experts Ed Sherman and David A. Logan about the settlement, how and when the court will approve it, and which side could benefit more.” (Read More) Environmentalists welcome oil spill settlement *features Simone …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: July 6, 2015
With BP cash, Louisiana could jump start coastal restoration: Editorial *features MRD statement The Times-Picayune. July 5, 2015 “Voters will choose the next governor and the new Legislature this fall. The candidates for those posts must commit to putting all these resources toward strengthening the coast. That must be the mission of all of our political leaders. The future of coastal Louisiana and everyone who lives and works here depends on spending this money the right way.” (Read More) Coastal …
Gulf Restoration Groups Ready to Put Billions to Work to Bring Back Gulf
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Jacques Hebert, National Audubon Society, 504.264.6849, jhebert@audubon.org Elizabeth Van Cleve, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, evancleve@edf.org Rachel Guillory, Ocean Conservancy, 504.208.5816, rguillory@oceanconservancy.org Andrew Blejwas, The Nature Conservancy, 617.785.7047, ablejwas@tnc.org Jimmy Frederick, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, 225.317.2046, jimmy.frederick@crcl.org John Lopez, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, 504.421.7348, johnlopez@pobox.com Gulf Restoration Groups Ready to Put Billions to Work to Bring Back Gulf Region’s economy and well-being are based on strong, resilient ecosystem …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: July 1, 2015
Campaign aides to governor hopeful get a tutorial on Louisiana’s coastal projects *features Cynthia Duet, NAS & David Muth, NWF By Amy Wold, The Advocate. July 1, 2015 “These projects cannot afford to come to a screeching halt or slow down to wait for a new group to catch up,” said Cynthia Duet, deputy director of Audubon Louisiana. “These projects and the 2017 master plan need to continue on a path forward.” (Read More) Sunken city or surging metropolis? 9 …