America's Wetland Foundation

Putting a priority on Louisiana's coast: An editorial

By: Times-Picayune

Eighty-six percent of the 801 Louisianians surveyed by Southern Media & Opinion Research said they support a legislative vote for the plan. An even higher number of respondents -- 91 percent -- said the coast and wetlands are very important to Louisiana.

86% of Louisiana Voters Support Adoption of 2012 Coastal Master Plan

By: Wall Street Journal

Eighty-six percent of Louisiana voters say they want their legislators to approve the state's 2012 Coastal Master Plan, according to a new poll released today. The plan lays out a 50-year vision for protecting and restoring the coast, including increased hurricane risk reduction for coastal communities and reconnecting the Mississippi River with disappearing coastal wetlands. Overwhelming majorities of the voters surveyed in the poll believe the state's coastal areas and wetlands are important to the state's future and express optimism that the coast can be restored, despite decades of decline.

Resolve to pass the Restore Act: An editorial

By: Editorial Staff, Times-Picayune

Congress passed a 90-day extension of the federal highway program Thursday, but that stopgap measure did not include the Restore Act, which would send 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the BP oil spill to Gulf Coast states. The extension will ensure that financing for highway projects, which would have run out Saturday, will continue for 90 more days.

Building a natural alliance

By: Daily Comet

It might not be a partnership that springs naturally to mind, but the joining together of business and environmental interests makes a lot of sense in an area where they are so intertwined.

Wetlands group, chamber vow to partner for coastal restoration

By: Cara Bayles, Houma Today

Advocates speaking at the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce’s monthly banquet Tuesday called for business and environmental interests to join forces and fight coastal erosion.

Adopt Louisiana's coastal restoration blueprint: An editorial

By: Editorial Staff, Times-Picayune

The state's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority spent nearly three months listening to public input on its coastal master plan and making changes before voting unanimously this week to adopt it. Now the 50-year, $50 billion plan, which addresses both hurricane protection and coastal restoration, heads to the state Legislature, and lawmakers should adopt this important road map for our future.

Louisiana and other Gulf states need Congress to pass the Restore the Gulf Act: An editorial

By: Editorial Staff, Times-Picayune

Legislation to dedicate 80 percent of BP oil spill fines to the Gulf Coast states was on an encouraging upswing earlier this month, when the Senate adopted a transportation bill that included what's known as the Restore Act. But the momentum gained with the Senate vote -- and earlier House action to include Restore Act provisions in its version of the transportation bill -- has now slowed.

Preparing the Coast for the Next Disaster

By: Debbie Williams, WKRG TV

t's easy to see on a day like today the potential for damage along the Gulf of Mexico. Wind,flooding and storm surge are always a threat when the weather turns bad according to Valsin Marmillion, director of America's Wetland Foundation. "The sea level is rising. The land is subsiding and we're having a real problem with our infrastructure keeping it alive and viable for the next 30 years."

Focus on Coastal Restoration Not Retreat, Louisiana's Senator Landrieu Says

By: Susan Buchanon, Huffington Post

Louisiana needs to get smart quickly about coastal restoration, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu said in her hometown of New Orleans last week. The state has funds for the coast but also needs money from the RESTORE Act, which was approved by the U.S. Senate this month and awaits a House of Representatives decision. The Act would steer 80 percent of federal, spill-related penalties, expected to be levied against BP, to five Gulf states. Landrieu, a Democrat, said those penalties should be between $5 billion and $20 billion.

Sea level studies: US coasts even more vulnerable than previously thought

By: Pete Spotts, The Christian Science Monitor

Cities and hamlets along America's popular coastlines are more vulnerable to rising sea levels than previously estimated, according to a pair of new studies.

Nutrients causing Gulf 'dead zone' subject of suits against EPA

By: Mark Schleifstein, Times-Picayune

A consortium of state and national environmental groups filed suits Tuesday against the federal Environmental Protection Agency in federal courts in New Orleans and New York in an attempt to get greater restrictions on nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the nation's rivers and streams.

Lawsuits hope to curtail nutrient runoff feeding 'dead zone' in Gulf of Mexico

By: Melissa Miller, Southeast Missourian

Environmentalists are escalating their fight against a growing area in the Gulf of Mexico where excessive algae is choking out marine life.Much of what feeds the algae in the "dead zone" comes from farms in Missouri and Illinois.Forcing the EPA to reduce nutrient pollution in the Mississippi River Basin is the goal of two lawsuits filed this week by a coalition of environmental groups.

Locals praise Restore Act's passage in U.S. Senate

By: Nate Monroe, Houma Today

Billions of dollars for coastal restoration and economic development throughout the Gulf Coast, including Lafourche and Terrebonne, are at stake as a transportation bill winds through Congress.

Environmentalists Say Chicago Waste Creates Dead Zone In Gulf Of Mexico

By: Chicagoist

Environmentalists say Chicago's wastewater is a major factor in creating the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, and a group of organizations is pushing for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose stricter standards on all states from here to the Gulf.

Report shows potential sea level rise effects on coastal La. parishes

By: Maya Rodriguez, Eyewitness News

Nearly all of Louisiana's coastal parishes -- and the 1.4 million people who live in them -- are threatened by rising sea levels, according to a new report called "Surging Seas," from the non-profit group Climate Central.