A timely alarm on eroded coast
Opinion page staff
Published: May 11, 2006
In the battle to fund coastal restoration for Louisiana, sympathetic national media coverage of the issue is one of the few things the state has going for it at the moment.
The total price tag for restoring the wetlands has been estimated at $14 billion — a cost so large that federal investment in the restoration is imperative.
But that’s been a tough sell in Washington, D.C., where Louisiana has little seniority in its congressional delegation, and the high cost of coastal restoration carries more than a little sticker shock on Capitol Hill.
Given the challenges, and the dire consequences of doing nothing, it helps when influential national media organs throw a spotlight on Louisiana’s ravaged coastline and make the case for strong action.
A heartening case in point was a recent New York Times editorial bemoaning the short shrift that Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts are getting in Congress.
“Wetlands restoration has been pushed to the bottom of a very long post-hurricane priority list,” the Times lamented. “That may not be surprising, but it is a big mistake.”
The Times went on to say:
“Much of the wetlands-shrinking is due to a long line of bad decisions before the hurricane. Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost wetlands equal to the size of Delaware. The Army Corps of Engineers built dams, levees and canals along the Mississippi River that held back or diverted much of the sediment that had naturally replenished the delta soil. Channels dug for shipping have allowed salt water to infiltrate and kill off vegetation. In effect, our tinkering starved the wetlands and barrier islands. That makes it all the more important to seize this moment, when the whole country’s attention is focused on making southern Louisiana more secure, and begin to undo the damage.”
Local supporters of coastal restoration have been sounding such an alarm for years. But it can’t hurt when the message gets national attention in America’s leading newspaper.
We hope that helps build some much-needed momentum for making Louisiana’s coast whole again.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/opinion/2782201.html