Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Feb. 09, 2015
← Older posts Newer posts →Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Feb. 09, 2015
Does BP deserve mercy in setting Deepwater Horizon penalty? By Tom Zeller Jr., Forbes. Feb. 08, 2015 “While it will likely be decades before we fully comprehend the extent of damage to wildlife, we do know that nearly five years after the explosion, dolphins are dying in high numbers, sea turtles are failing to nest, and oyster production remains low,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, as testimony in the penalty phase of the trial …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Feb. 06, 2015
Delta Blues Part 3: Better Together By Eve Troeh & Jesse Hardman, WWNO. Feb. 05, 2015 “Louisiana faces the highest relative rates of sea level rise in the world. As policy and funding debates rage over how to best restore and protect our coastal communities, local leaders also look for allies elsewhere.” (Read More) Cedric Richmond urges President Obama to scrap plan to cancel offshore revenue sharing By Bruce Alpert, The Times-Picayune. Feb. 05, 2015 “Canals cut through Louisiana wetlands …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Feb. 05, 2015
Greens fume over Obama’s bid to divert restoration funding By Phil Taylor, Greenwire. Feb. 04, 2015 “This proposed budget undercuts the administration’s previous commitments to restore critical economic infrastructure and ecosystems in the Mississippi River Delta, where we are losing 16 square miles of critical wetlands every year — a preventable coastal erosion crisis,” the environmental groups said. “Those wetlands, and the culture and economic infrastructure they protect from hurricanes, will be lost without complete and ongoing intervention.” (Read More) …
Conservation Groups React to Coastal Restoration Cuts in President’s Budget
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Elizabeth Van Cleve, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, evancleve@edf.org Jacques Hebert, National Audubon Society, 504.264.6849, jhebert@audubon.org Conservation Groups React to Coastal Restoration Cuts in President’s Budget Proposed budget jeopardizes critical wetlands restoration (NEW ORLEANS – February 4, 2015) On Monday, President Obama unveiled a $4 trillion proposed budget that would tap more than $3 billion in future oil and gas revenues from Gulf Coast states to pay for other …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Feb. 03, 2015
Proposed 2015-16 coastal restoration and protection plan swells to $773 million By Mark Schleifstein, The Times Picayune. Feb. 02, 2015 “The 223-page “annual plan” by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which must be approved by the Louisiana Legislature, serves as a blueprint for the state’s $50 billion, 50-year coastal protection and restoration Master Plan.” (Read More) BP oil spill trial wraps up nearly 2 years after historic litigation began By Jennifer Larino, The Times-Picayune. Feb. 02, 2015 “The final …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Feb. 02, 2015
Millions of gallons of oil settled at the bottom of the gulf after BP oil spill By Katie Valentine, ThinkProgress. Jan. 30, 2015 “Millions of gallons of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill didn’t get cleaned up, and instead settled in the sediment of the Gulf of Mexico’s floor, a new study has found.” (Read More) America’s WETLAND Foundation calls coastal restoration budget cuts ‘No Go’ zone By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. Jan. 30, 2015 “In such dire budget …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Jan. 30, 2015
BP oil spill: Study traces almost 10 million gallons to Gulf sea floor By Jayalakshmi K, International Business Times. Jan. 30, 2015 “A study led by Florida State University Professor of Oceanography Jeff Chanton has found around 6 million to 10 million gallons buried in the sediment on the Gulf floor, about 62 miles southeast of the Mississippi Delta.” (Read More) With recent ruling, federal judge cuts at least $240 million from state’s BP fine By Bob Marshall, The Lens. …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Jan. 29, 2015
5 Years after the Spill: What BP Owes the Gulf Coast By David Yarnold, Roll Call. Jan. 29, 2015 “It’s been nearly five years since BP slimed the Gulf Coast, taking the lives of 11 men, wrecking livelihoods and killing tens of thousands of helpless coastal birds. Finally, federal Judge Carl Barbier is heading into the final stretch, deciding how much the third largest oil company in the world will have to pay in pollution fines for the worst oil …
Wine & Wetlands event brings together coastal residents, advocates
Guest post by Mike Mariana, Belle Chasse, LA On January 15, my wife and I attended the Wine & Wetlands event organized by the Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition and their outreach coordinator for Plaquemines Parish, Philip Russo. More than 50 people from across our parish attended and had the opportunity to hear from several concerned citizens, business owners and governmental representatives, all working in their own way to restore our coast. Thanks to the sponsorship of several of …
Tagged EconomicsLatest Mississippi River Delta News: Jan. 28, 2015
State’s coastal agency asked to come up with potential budget cuts By Amy Wold, The Advocate. Jan. 28, 2015 “Up to this point, they have been spared,” said David Muth, director for Mississippi River Delta Restoration for the National Wildlife Federation. This is an organization tasked with protecting coastal Louisiana, Muth said. Asking it to make budget cuts, “It’s just not a good sign.” (Read More) In BP oil spill trial, company’s expert witnesses to testify to recovering wildlife, strong …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Jan. 27, 2015
No ‘compelling evidence’ BP oil spill sickened cleanup workers, Gulf Coast residents witness testifies By Jennifer Larino, The Times-Picayune. Jan. 27, 2015 “There is ‘no compelling evidence’ the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill damaged the health of cleanup workers and Gulf Coast residents, and there is no reason to believe longer-term studies will expose chronic illnesses linked to the disaster, a public health expert testified Monday (Jan. 26).” (Read More) Expert witness testifies to BP’s ‘extraordinarily effective’ oil spill …
Coalition Responds to Jerome Zeringue’s Resignation from Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
Coalition Responds to Jerome Zeringue’s Resignation from Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chip Kline, current deputy director of Governor’s Office of Coastal Affairs, named successor (NEW ORLEANS – January 26, 2015) Last week, Governor Bobby Jindal announced that Chip Kline would replace Jerome “Zee” Zeringue as chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. Kline is currently the deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities. National and local conservation organizations committed to coastal Louisiana restoration – Environmental …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Jan. 26, 2015
In oil spill trial, first BP expert witness to testify about effectiveness of response By Jennifer Larino, The Times-Picayune. Jan. 26, 2015 “BP will call its first witnesses Monday (Jan. 26) as it seeks a penalty lower than the $13.7 billion the federal government wants for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The company’s experts will testify to the effectiveness of BP’s effort to minimize the spill’s impact.” (Read More) BP’s finances ‘better today than prior to the oil …
Phase III, Week 1: Recap of the BP oil spill trial
By Will Lindsey The first week of phase III of the BP trial ended on Friday, January 23. During this phase, which is expected to last three weeks, Judge Carl Barbier will determine the amount of Clean Water Act civil penalties that BP must pay for the 2010 Gulf oil disaster. Phase III comes after two previous phases, the first of which determined that BP was 67 percent responsible for the spill, while phase II determined that 3.19 million barrels …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Jan. 23, 2015
BP oil spill rippled through ‘fabric of Gulf Coast economy,’ witness testifies By Jennifer Larino, The Times-Picayune. Jan. 22, 2015 “The 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill took an economic toll that “reached out into the fabric of the entire Gulf Coast economy,” an impact only modestly countered by BP’s spending and investment in the region, an economic expert testified on Thursday (Jan. 22).” (Read More) In BP oil spill trial, U.S. witness to outline how much BP can afford …