MRGO Litigation

Five plaintiffs are suing the Corps of Engineers theorizing that Mississippi River Gulf Outlet exacerbated flooding in the New Orleans area by acting as a funnel for the storm surge and killing surrounding wetlands. The Corps is immune from suit in its capacity as flood protection builder, but these plaintiffs are trying to sue the Corps in its navigation maintenance capacity.

This suit is a big deal, as there are hundreds of thousands of plaintiffs in the area that could join. The trial will be going on in the coming weeks. You can follow it at Nola.com, or in even more detail at this blog:

slabbed. (Look for MRGO posts)

There was no Sunday Funday, because there was no Sunday Fun-- only law school finals preparation. :(

Reading: Ivor van Heerden, who pointed fingers in Hurricane Katrina levee failures, fired by LSU

Ivor van Heerden, who pointed fingers in Hurricane Katrina levee failures, fired by LSU - Breaking News from New Orleans - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com

I think the people of this state deserve an explanation.

More: I understand that some say he is a troublemaker- I only know what I have read about him in the papers. Young, new to the scene and semi-naive, I am not in the position to guess how much merit the university's decision has. That's why I would like an explanation!

The university said it does not involve his performance. If that's true, it's a shame he didn't have tenure. Even if everything he said didn't turn out in the end to be correct, it is still good to have people who can educate themselves and then speak what they believe is the truth. I have never believed that finger-pointing can solve problems in the coastal zone. On the other hand, if we don't recognize and learn from past mistakes, we repeat those mistakes. That's why we need at least a few brave souls who will tell us honestly what they think went wrong. Those are my two cents.

Check it out: Chicago Toilets contribute to Gulf 'Dead Zone'

City Room™ - Science - How Chicago Toilets Lead to Gulf 'Dead Zone'

This piece from Chicago Public Radio is great!! Upriver pollution wreaks so much havoc on Louisiana's environment as the Mississippi River drains almost all of the central U.S.'s waste right into our precious ecology. One of the many negative effects is the Dead Zone in the Gulf- an area of water the size of New Jersey that is pretty much unable to sustain life. Serious national legislation is needed and overdue on this issue. It's wonderful to see that awareness may be rising up there!

Thanks to Frank Truesdale's Infotrawl at Louisiana Coast Post for this great catch!

The Three Main Goals of this Blog and an Invitation for You

1. This blog is borne out of my love for Louisiana and my passion to ensure its bright future- particularly when it comes to coastal restoration and hurricane protection. Every single morning I dive into a variety of Louisiana news and commentary sources, and then at work I spend hours pouring over coastal law and policy documents. The people who love me can tell you that my brain is an obsessive information-collecting-machine and random-idea-generator. That's why Think Big Easy's first main goal is to share this flow of information and ideas so that it might help someone to "Think Big"-- and gain a larger perspective on Louisiana issues that will hopefully spur informed decision-making and creativity.

2. In the same vein, I know that I do not have the full perspective on anything. This is why my second main goal for this blog is to generate discussion. Please if you have something to add, any kind of update, any helpful link, or can see that I'm missing something, jump in and spit it out! Comments are enabled and encouraged. Slap your blog or website down, and I'll visit it and comment.

Caveat: criticism is welcome but nasty attacks will be deleted. I'm especially referring to political comments that are more inflammatory than thoughtful. Blame it on me, because I personally can be very sensitive. I appreciate that some people think that stuff is funny- but I don't and it distracts me from the point the writer is making. A little example off the top of my head: ripping on Jindal or Obama's budgets as irresponsible (with reasoning) would be perfectly fine and welcomed. But referring to Governor Jindal as Piyush or President Obama as B. Hussein Obama would not be OK. Not trying to offend you, just pointing out that I want a polite and wimp-friendly blog.

3. Finally, this blog's last main purpose is to celebrate Louisiana's culture, successes, and people. This means posting about artists, food, successful businesses, good news, or any other thing that explains our love for Louisiana and our willingness to work for its future. I do not believe that Louisiana is the only worthwhile place in the world to live, but it certainly is one of my favorite places because of our wonderful people and rich culture.

My Invitation to You: Thanks for reading this far! In line with the above three goals, if you have any ideas, a voice to add to any issue, see any interesting articles that are skipped over here, know a business, person or organization doing great things here in LA, would like to write a guest post, know a way to improve ThinkBigEasy.com or just found a neat youtube video or source that relates to the purposes of this blog, please share! I read all of my comments and may also be contacted through email on my blogger profile. And please pass this blog to along to anyone who might be interested! I'm new to the serious blogger community, but I'm in this for the long haul.

Thanks again!
jo

This weekend: The Tulane Environmental Law Summit!

I am very excited about this weekend! The Tulane Environmental Law Society has put together an unbelievable lineup of speakers, activities and panels for this weekend's Summit. From Mike Tidwell, renowned author of Bayou Farewell (an absolute must-read if you haven't already) and others, to great panels on pressing issues like the future of LA's oil and gas & the dead zone in the Gulf, to important speakers such as the president of Global Green and the newly appointed (New Orleanian) head of the EPA.

A list of the summit's attendees would read like a "Who's Who" in Louisiana environmental law, with everyone from important coastal scientists like Dr. John Day, to (hopefully!) the new head of the Louisiana Governor's Office of Coastal Activities, Garret Graves. And I know for a fact that many amazing lawyers and others will be in attendance that don't even have their names on the program. Also, I hear that the play put on by the Tulane Law Students is one of the most surprising highlights!!!

Best of all, the Summit is now free for ALL law students! Even for us Tigers, who will bring a small but proud contingent to represent our school and support our Tulane counterparts. Thanks for all you guys' hard work!! I'm super excited!

Finally, isn't their fleur de lis graphic amazing? Check out all info about the summit here.

Voodoo Experience and Gulf Restoration Network teamed up for the coast...

And produced this great video where musicians and others speak out. You should spread it around!



Source: Gulf Restoration Network blog

Tough Choices Profile #1: Lafitte

On Tuesday, the Corps of Engineers held a public meeting for review of particular alignments for the hurricane levee system being considered. I assume this refers to the 100 year levee system but the T-P's article doesn't specify. Most of the possible levee alignments leave the town of Lafitte outside of the major levee system, although a smaller levee could always be created for them. On Tuesday nearly 200 of Lafitte's 8000 residents showed up to a Corps meeting clamoring to be included within the levee system.

For your reference, here is Lafitte.


View Larger Map

As you can see, Lafitte is far below the metropolitan area (which ends basically where it says "Marrero"). Lafitte, a town in Jefferson Parish that is named after Jean Lafitte- a pirate who fought valiantly for the US in the Battle of New Orleans- is known for it's great fishing, seafood, and culture. Unfortunately, we can not afford to put Lafitte- and every other such community- behind a massive flood system. And here's why:

Truth be told, not just Lafitte but all of Southern Louisiana is very vulnerable to erosion, subsidence, flooding and hurricanes. It will always be an unnatural battle to try to create security from flooding when you live on a Delta so close to the coast. Most people agree, however, that despite the risk, the benefits of preserving coastal Louisiana make the flood protection projects and coastal restoration efforts "worth it."

I tend to subscribe to Oliver Houck's (Tulane Environmental Law Professor) basic vision for New Orleans and coastal Louisiana. We should build levees that are relatively small in geographic range and focused on specific population concentrations. But we should also realize that although levees are powerful tools, they have serious downfalls. (Check out my post on the Limitations of Levees). Extending the major levee system to outlying towns such as Lafitte only makes the whole region more vulnerable and the system more difficult to maintain. Fortunately, they are not the only gun in our arsenal to protect us from hurricanes. We must pour our efforts into preserving the coastal wetlands, which act as a powerful buffer for storms.

Now, you tell a community of hard-working people with centuries-old culture that they can't be part of a big levee system. It's hard, I know it. But these are the tough choices that must be made. Much of the opportunity to make these tough choices has been missed, as leaders failed to make comprehensive plans for metro New Orleans and other areas in the wake of Katrina and Rita. We can't afford to miss more opportunities to make coastal Louisiana sustainable.

So what is Lafitte's future? Hopefully, it's a rich one. If we as a state decide that communities like Lafitte are important for economic and cultural reasons, then we should advocate various protections for the people who live there-- accepting that they bear a higher risk than us and do necessary work in industries such as seafood and oil and gas that couldn't be done further north. That means supporting good land use planning and small flood projects- possibly including smaller "ring" levees. And it means supporting these communities if they do flood-- supporting them financially, helping them to rebuild smarter, and giving them options for relocation. Of course all of this must go hand in hand with massive coastal restoration efforts if we are to have any chance of long-term security whatsoever.

Those are my two proverbial cents on this heart-wrenching issue. Your commentary is encouraged!

The Limitations of Levees

Many well-meaning advocates of Southern Louisiana push for massive levee projects expanding across Louisiana far out to protect small towns way down on the coast. I agree that we need some big levees, especially around already concentrated populations in lower risk areas. However, any discussions of levees should include considerations of their downfalls.

1) Levees are very expensive to build and also very expensive to maintain. A poorly built or maintained levee- as we saw in Katrina- is like not having levee at all! The larger the levee, the harder the fall if it is compromised at any one point.

2) Levees encourage development. The more "protection" we build in flood-prone areas, the more we actually encourage people to move there and to build their lives there on a sense of false security. This is probably not wise in extremely marshy, low-lying areas so close to the Gulf. Undeveloped coastal areas should probably stay that way, supporting only the existing population necessary to do the work of coastal industries.

3) Levees kill wetlands. The more levees you put down, the more cut off outside wetlands are from river water and sediment that builds them. As wetlands die, communities are closer and closer to open ocean and no protection other than the levee from storms.

and

4) Levees harm wetland ecology! Shrimp and other yummy seafood need to go from salty water nurseries to more freshwater areas in their lifespan. If you prevent this by building a levee across wetlands, you endanger all of that good seafood that keeps the people of coastal Louisiana enjoying life there in the first place.

You can't have it all-- you can't save the wetlands, build a huge levee system surrounding every small town, and live like you did before Katrina. Even if it could be done, Congress isn't going to fund it in the forseeable future; the American taxpayer won't tolerate it. You have to find a realistic balance.

If even conservative estimates are correct, the Cajun coast is most certainly going to suffer some loss in this coming century. The solution to preserving this culture is not to build a giant wall around every house that has been built. No, the solution is for strong-willed leaders to make the smart, tough decisions that achieve the most sustainability possible for the entire region.

Yesterday I asked an expert in land-use planning the following question: "Where will we get the political capital to make these tough choices? How can we grow the spine to tell tax-paying, hard-working people that their area is just too risky or that a huge levee is not the answer?"

That expert's answer? "Well, that's the big question."

My suspicion is that we if ever get that political capital, it will be through persistent education of our communities. So spread the word.

Know about LA's great outdoors? Take this quiz!

Times Picayune, March 22

It's a great quiz that checks your knowledge of coastal issues and fishies and other good stuff.

If you make over 85% you get to add -eaux to your last name.
BEWARE: if you get under 75%, you become a Texan...

(Nothing against Texas. I love Texas. But nowhere near as much as Texans love Texas.)

Pragmatic Activism for the Wetlands: Thank you King Milling

R. King Milling is the president of Whitney National Bank in Louisiana and a prominent businessman regionally. Now he has been awarded the Loving Cup, a century-old award given by the Times-Picayune for unselfish community service, because of his tireless dedication to coastal restoration.

Milling should serve as an example to us all- especially to business people and others who do not work in coastal restoration. Read the praise in the article below heaped on him by major voices on coastal restoration like Sidney Coffee and Mark Davis. Then listen to his own reasons for his activism:

"I just loooooove plants, especially in our marshes! I think we should sacrifice capitalist interests for them no matter what the costs to our community."

Just kidding. These are his pragmatic words:

"This is not just about the environment. It's about culture, commerce and survival."
and
"It doesn't take a genius to understand the infrastructure is at risk, the future is at risk. That's what we will lose if we don't do anything. I think that used to shock some people, but it doesn't anymore."

King Milling is not a tree hugger. He is a banker- certainly not interested in losing money. He knows how urgent this issue is for everyone in Louisiana. It doesn't matter if you work in retail, the service industry, education, technology, health care, shipping, oil and gas, seafood, agriculture-- any industry-- we should all know that the health of our coast is our primary measure of the safety of our population and the security of any business from at least Baton Rouge on south. Every year, we sit closer and closer to the open ocean. There may still be controversy over climate change, but there isn't over coastal loss here: we've lost a Delaware amount of land. Now we can either be sitting ducks, or we can all work tirelessly to lessen the risk. Anytime you need a reminder of what that risk is, go here. Or ask King Milling.

Coastal restoration advocate King Milling wins T-P Loving Cup - Breaking News from New Orleans - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com

Attn: Brad Pitt, Re: New Orleans accents

What Brad Pitt should have studied for Benjamin Button, instead of just taking on a silly Southern accent:




Circa 1983 goodness. LOL when she wants to "talk propah" she will. Same wit' mah mama.

New Codofil TV Spots

Very cute commercials promoting French in Louisiana. Cajun french was squelched in Louisiana. My Granny tells stories about how they weren't allowed to speak it in school- they would be whipped (lighlty, I assume) by their teachers.



LIfe From The Bottom Of The Boot: CODIFIL TV Spots

Biotechnology and Coastal Restoration: Can we have Chia Wetlands?

I am taking a biotechnology law course right now in law school, and I have often daydreamed- while we're talking about splicing plant dna for agriculture or human dna for medical treatments- that biotechnology might be applied in the coastal restoration context.

Why can't we have a Chia-wetland? I've learned that wetlands have a much higher ratio of vegetation to soil than most land, so just depositing sediment without active growth isn't as helpful. So I started imagining that someone could create Chia wetlands of modified native plants that would grow and take root quickly to supplement our sediment depositing. Very rough model:


Well it turns out, my idea wasn't a new one. The article below shows that the folks at the LSU Ag school have been researching it. However, the article I found is from 2003 and I haven't been able to turn up anymore sources. Anyone have any clues on whether this is still being looked into or is just a dead end?

Using Biotechnology for Coastal Restoration - 2003 | Louisiana Agriculture Magazine | Communications | LSU AgCenter

LA is a bigfoot!

We’re number one! Louisiana has the biggest industrial carbon footprint. | lacoastpost.com

Although people might look down on us and our big carbon footprint, Louisiana does the dirty work for the rest of this nation.