LIVE STREAMING
“Aerial view of Louisiana wetland habitats” by Ryan Hagerty, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public Domain

Louisiana is working to save its sinking coast

Scientists, engineers and policy makers are working to develop a plan that may or may not save Louisiana's sinking coastline.

MORE IN THIS SECTION

Mourning in Colombia

Piñatas For Everyone

A Latino in the Stars

Hispanic Role Model

A Latino Storyteller

Pau Gasol enters the HOF

SHARE THIS CONTENT:

It’s not every day that American scientists, engineers and policy makers doubledown to urgently develop a plan that may or may not save an environment eroded by humans over decades. But in Louisiana’s case, they don’t have much of a choice. The state’s coast is drowning.

In 50 years, much of the Louisiana’s southwest will be completely submerged, according to an investigative report by ProPublica. This week, the investigation delved into the science and politics of saving the coast. Louisiana residents aren’t the only stakeholders in the coast’s wellbeing — the state is home to 30 percent of the U.S.’s oil and gas refineries and pipelines.

The state has developed a 50-year plan — the Master Plan for the Coast — which, in short, involves building up the coastal wetlands that had been eroded for decades by levees, canals and drilling. The nature-mimicking techniques include pumping in mud and sand while diverting river water. But the plan is incomplete in the science on how the techniques will pay out, where the $50 billion to fund the project will come from, and what the realistic end goal will be. Will Louisiana restore its coast, or sustain it just enough to avoid disaster? Then there are some scientists who worry that the erosion is too far gone to turn around.

Meanwhile, a federal ban on drilling off the eastern gulf coasts of Mississippi, Alabama and western Florida is set to be lifted in 2022. A November report from the American Petroleum Institute estimated that Louisiana would gain 31,000 jobs and $344 million annually if bans on drilling in the gulf are lifted. 

 
  • LEAVE A COMMENT:

  • Join the discussion! Leave a comment.

  • or
  • REGISTER
  • to comment.
  • LEAVE A COMMENT:

  • Join the discussion! Leave a comment.

  • or
  • REGISTER
  • to comment.
00:00 / 00:00
Ads destiny link