Louisiana Coast
Federal judge says area for oil and gas leases in Gulf of Mexico must be expanded
A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to expand next week’s offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico by 6 million acres. His ruling overturned a federal plan released last month that put limits in place to protect an endangered whale species. U.S. District Judge David Cain in Lake Charles […]
FEMA’s disaster relief fund is running low on cash. What happens now?
WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund is in desperate need of cash, with the agency projecting at least a $4 billion deficit in the weeks ahead — even as the government responds to devastating fires in Hawaii and hurricane season continues. FEMA, however, won’t simply stop the response and recovery activities […]
Sediment diversion breaks ground, promising to stave back land loss on Louisiana’s coast
Humans have long tried to tame the Mississippi River with levees. In the process, they starved many of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands of the sediment that sustains them. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, billed as the first project of its kind, seeks to remedy that by replicating those natural land-building processes by reconnecting the basin to the […]
Hurricane season is getting longer because of climate change, researchers say
Hurricane season, which officially runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, is getting longer because of climate change, researchers say. “Seven of the last eight years we’ve had named storms form before hurricane season officially began on June 1. We technically had a named storm in January of 2023,” Barry Keim, Louisiana’s state climatologist and […]
Property insurance disappears for Louisiana residents — but not for new fossil fuel facilities
Residents of coastal Louisiana are facing growing risks from flooding and extreme weather, with options for home insurance vanishing as insurers leave the state. But the fossil fuel industry operating nearby has no such worries. Liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals have been springing up along the fragile Gulf Coast, securing insurance even as their product […]
How an Idaho couple’s fight to build a home near a lake might affect Louisiana’s wetlands
In 2007, an Idaho couple wanted to build a home near a lake; the Environmental Protection Agency stopped them. Fifteen years later and 2,300 miles away, the ensuing legal battle has launched the protection of some Louisiana wetlands into uncertainty. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the couple in May and curtailed the EPA’s authority […]
These Louisiana bird nesting islands were bleak. Restoration projects gave them new hope.
People on Louisiana’s coast aren’t the only ones in need of home elevations. In 2018, much of Queen Bess Island in Jefferson Parish was covered by water and dull-looking foliage. Birds nesting there were forced to crowd the little bits of suitable land left. “Much like our coastal communities, these guys are losing their habitat […]
Departing coastal head advises next Louisiana governor to act with urgency
The departing coastal authority head thinks restoration needs to be elevated in Louisiana’s political conversation, including the governor’s race. Chip Kline will exit as chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) after July 3. He’s held the role and been state director of coastal activities since 2018. Kline also manages the day-to-day operations […]
Limits on carbon capture quashed in Louisiana Legislature despite environmental concerns
A handful of Louisiana lawmakers brought bills this session to address public outcry over carbon capture projects, but their fellow legislators rejected most of their proposals. Carbon capture and sequestration is a process where industrial facilities contain their carbon dioxide emissions to inject and store them below ground instead of releasing the gas into the […]
The start of hurricane season should intensify coastal rebuilding efforts
You probably don’t need a reminder that the 2023 hurricane season begins today, but you’re welcome if it somehow slipped your mind. Unless you have the luxury of spending the next five months at your mountain hideaway, you know the drill — plan, prepare and execute early enough to get out of town safely. That […]
Louisiana’s landmark climate adaptation program is running out of time
Climate change has made Louisiana one of the most endangered states in the country. It has been struck by six major hurricanes in less than 25 years and lost hundreds of square miles of land to erosion in roughly the same period. But thanks partly to its extraordinarily bad luck — in particular the devastation […]
Sinking redfish numbers could place bull reds off limits to anglers
Redfish stocks in Louisiana are declining at rates that have prompted state lawmakers to ask for tighter fishing regulations. The House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday from Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, that would urge the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to adopt a new limit prohibiting anglers from keeping […]