Tag: Wetlands restoration

As the berms turn part three: Jindal's "Dutch Treat" not working out. Dutch dredging company Van Oord says Jindal is all wet.

Folks, at the true extent of Bobby Jindal’s sand berm boondoggle comes to light Team Jindy is circling the wagons as hard questions are being asked. My last post on this topic was linked over at TigerDroppings.com and it stimulated an interesting discussion. This much is clear after reading some of the commentary.  If Bobby Jindal passes gas and says it smells like lavender there is a segment of the populace that will buy in no questions asked. There is not much any of the rest of us a do for that group except show some patience and understanding. Meantime lets add some color about how the sand berm scheme came about and what some of the participants are saying now.

First off let’s begin with Dutch company Van Oord, a huge dredging company that had an angle on making some money off the oil spill in building some massive berms to “shorten the coastline”.  I’ve embedded their May 4, 2010 power point presentation to Scribd:

[scribd id=35125073 key=key-ip7frn6drt4rw2nqr1g mode=slideshow]

Next up is Kyle Graham, a Jindal political hack who did a Powerpoint presentation pushing the sand berms on June 16th where he credited Van Oord on page 16: Continue reading “As the berms turn part three: Jindal's "Dutch Treat" not working out. Dutch dredging company Van Oord says Jindal is all wet.”

Your land, my land – and we’re at risk of losing more than Louisiana

wearenotalone-us-map-of-loss-risk22This land is your land. This land is my land. From the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters, This land was made for you and me

Seventy miles south of New Orleans, on the eastern end of Grand Isle, a small tide gauge records the Gulf of Mexico rising against the surrounding land. The monthly increases are microscopic, narrower than a single strand of hair.

Climate scientists recording those results think they add up to something huge. The gauge, they say, may be quietly writing one of the first big stories in the age of global warming: the obituary for much of southeast Louisiana.

losing-la475-top1The Times Picayune is recording, too – and you don’t won’t to miss the series Losing Louisiana.  Read the rest of the lede story in Part 1 that published this past Saturday.

The series is exceptional in every way – so language rich that two paragraphs into Part 2 that it begins to feel like you’re watching a movie as you engage every sense while reading the story and that’s before you get to the equally remarkable graphics.

From atop the bridge soaring over Bayou Lafourche, a sweeping panorama of the southeast Louisiana coast unfolds. Scattered strings of green marsh break up wide expanses of open water. Pelicans swing on the breezes. Fish jump across the waves as crabbers and oyster harvesters pursue their livelihoods in a postcard scene of a rich life close to nature. Continue reading “Your land, my land – and we’re at risk of losing more than Louisiana”