René O'Deay gBlog

Last July, the wetlands flyover tour was co-sponsored by the state, the America's Wetland Foundation and the National Guard. The intention? To give lawmakers from other states a glimpse of Louisiana's crumbling "energy coast."

Lawmakers from as far away as Puerto Rico, New Hampshire and Alaska climb aboard for a bird's-eye view of the watery coastline. In many places, it's more water than coast.

From the air, they tour a portion of the 1,900 square miles of submerged coastal Louisiana. They learn that 1.7 miles of marshland will reduce the elevation of storm surge by about a foot. Cypress and tupelo forests also have huge buffering effects:the trees capture energy and hold floodwaters. Over the years, man-made changes to the natural hydrology of the Mississippi River and the coastal region have destroyed once-extensive coastal forests, prairies and marshes. To date, Louisiana's land loss equals an area the size of Delaware — and it's growing.

"This makes me more sympathetic to my friends in Louisiana," says Rep. John Grange a Republican from Kansas. "During Katrina, you saw human suffering, but you didn't see the ecological impact like we did today."

Back on the ground, it's evident that the effects of oil and gas pipelines and transportation canals — watery highways of saltwater intrusion into now-devastated fresh-water ecosystems — have made an impact on the group.� Source: The Gambit

And for those of you who think New Orleans needs to quit living and stop asking
for 'handouts':

Guarding the Coast The oil and gas industry's front organizations, including America's Wetland Foundation run by Big Oil front man, R. King Milling ("Coast Guarding," Aug. 26, 2008, The Gambit), is nothing more than an attempt to have taxpayers foot the bill for Big Oil's destruction of our wetlands in its oil-and-gas operations along the coast over the last 50 years, which returned billions in profits to its already gloated coffers.

While Milling and the other oil and gas henchmen on the Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority ponder ways to avoid responsibility for Big Oil's destruction of our wetlands, we lose more miles of coastline.

What will it take for the citizens of Louisiana, the Gulf Coast and our elected leaders to wake up and finally hold the oil companies responsible for their destructive behavior? Evidently, $4 per gallon of gas and destruction of our homes, property and loved ones is not enough. Vincent L. Bowers: letter to Editor The Gambit

So, it isn't just the government and Army Corps of Engineers who are responsible for the destruction in New Orleans and Louisiana and Mississippi, from Katrina, the oil companies themselves have caused a major portion of the problem.
And if you bought gas and oil and natural gas from Louisiana....

The Chief of Houma Nation of Louisiana in Isle de Jean Charles on the aftermath of Ike and Gustav:

Brenda Robichaux, the principal chief of the United Houma Nation, says it broke her heart when she saw what Gustav did.

“I was in tears as I was walking because this is our community. You know, and it's very, very important that we can maintain our life here,” she said.

She says about 100 people live on the island, most of them members of her tribal nation. “We’ve lived here for generation after generation. And so it's family.”

Chief Robichaux says she gets angry thinking about how much this area has lost. The grassy fields with oak trees where kids played, cattle grazed and the barrier islands that offered storm protection.

“You know, why hasn’t the coastal erosion issue been addressed sooner? Why hasn’t those barrier islands been restored? Why hasn’t the oil and gas industry had to repair the location canals that they built that made this community so fragile and so vulnerable?”

People here say what happened to Isle de Jean Charles during Gustav should be a message to the rest of Louisiana. Coastal erosion has destroyed their protection. And now the way of life they have known for generations is in jeopardy.

“This community is a tale of what we can expect for other communities along our coast,” said Natalie Snider from the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.

Isle de Jean Charles destruction

New Orleans and environs are a kind of petri dish for global climate change—what's happening there will be showing up elsewhere sooner than you think.

The rest of the nation already has plenty in common with New Orleans. For decades, government agencies at all levels have subsidized development in risky areas. Along coastlines and in river plains, this arrived in the form of flood defenses, federal flood insurance, and aid for businesses (in Louisiana, for example, oil and gas drilling and refining). Near fire-prone forestlands, road building and the marketability of nature itself drove construction of subdivisions. Katrina exposed this ad hoc approach as both lethal and unsustainable. The current wrangling over New Orleans is a preview of what will happen over the coming decades.
Storm Warning: The Unlearned Lessons of Katrina, By John McQuaid -August 26, 2007 Mother Jones

Isn't this already happening? More 'natural disasters' are happening all over the world. Flooding and tornadoes has plagued the Mid-West and NorthEast this year.

Isn't it unrealistic to expect the government to rebuild homes placed in naturally dangerous areas? Isn't it unrealistic not to look at the developers who built homes in potentially dangerous areas and those in government who helped them? And what about the ignorant public?

Ignorant is not stupid, or is it? This is a capitalistic run society. The adage is: "Let the buyer beware!"

So how did these developers in the last 100 years manage to create these housing developments in these dangerous areas?

Prospective homeowners in the New Orleans and adjacent areas are now studying the projected flood-prone and protected areas maps recently released by the US Army Corps of Engineers before making purchase or rebuilding decisions.

And FEMA sends a herd of Deathly Trailers to Oklahoma for tornado victims just before announcing that FEMA would no longer use those trailers because of the formaldehyde issue.

What a herd of vultures have taken advantage of the huge windfalls from charity and government relief programs, leaving many who actually needed the relief still struggling to get promised assistance.

Herds of politicians are now descending on the Crescent City for the anniversary of the Katrina to get their sound-bites in, a multi-million dollar memorial is planned, that has some residents up in arms.

"Why don't they build a school instead?" demanded one angry New Orleanian. Yeah, they could make that the memorial with an even better warm-feeling. Anything else will be rubbing the wounds with salt. IMHO.

New Orleans is not just a tourist destination, or a city consumed by decadence and crime. It is a major port.

First defence against monster storms on the Gulf Coast is not getting enough attention. Projects in the huge Water Resources bill scheduled for Senate decsion this fall include a dangerous coastal levee that is projected to greatly increase wetlands erosion while protecting a mere 100,00 population. This is a stickler for Pres. Bush, and a legitimate one.

"I can see the Gulf from the ramp. There is no marsh left to speak of. I wonder if anyone in this state realizes what is happening?" asked one fishing business owner from Buras, the town on the Mississippi Delta, the Louisana toe, that got a direct hit from Katrina. "The amount of marsh we lost in those storms and since then is just staggering....when the marsh is gone we won't have any fish, shrimp, oysters or crabs." Treading Water, by Bob Marshall, Times-Picayune, August 26, 2007

So everyone is on notice: Your catfish, shrimp and oyster supply is in extreme danger of disappearing.

"It isn't some nameless entity known as 'the government.' That entirely takes culpability away from the INDIVIDUALS in the government who believe stupid things and make stupid decisions. Can we please stop electing these idiots, already? Lives depend on it. Literally." posted one Mother Jones reader.

And stop believing none of them take bribes or accept other benefits to make those stupid decisions.

Maybe we need to ask these candidates what reassurances they can offer that they would not be, will not be, and have not been suborned? (Suborned, induced secretly to do an unlawful thing. )

Hurricane Anything, Polictical cartoon by Mark Fiore.

References to Important stories:

Mother Jones

• Mysteries of New Orleans - 25 questions


• Why are They Making New Orleans a Ghost Town?



The Renters Quandry

October 31, 2005
Fully armed National Guard troops refuse to allow over ten thousand people even to visit their property in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood. Despite the fact that people cannot come back, tens of thousands of people face eviction from their homes. A local judge told me that her court expects to process a thousand evictions a day for weeks.

Renters still in shelters or temporary homes across the country will never see the court notice taped to the door of their home. Because they will not show up for the eviction hearing that they do not know about, their possessions will be tossed out in the street.

New Orleans renters facing evictions from landlords who want to renovate and charge higher rents to the out of town workers who populate the city. Some renters have offered to pay their rent and are still being evicted.



• The Levees


• Levee Bribery-Corps


• FEMA & the Deathly Trailers

Analysis by René O'Deay, August 28, 2007 New Orleans