Category Archives: Oil Spill

Billion Dollar Baby: After BP’s Big Damage Pledge, Is More Money Needed to Restore the Gulf?

By | Bio | Published: May 25, 2011

A billion dollars can buy you a lot of things — an NFL team, a top-flight soccer club, even the obscenely large house of a globe-trotting tycoon.

One thing it can’t buy you is a healthy Gulf of Mexico, especially after a catastrophic event such as the BP oil disaster last spring. While we’re excited about BP’s pledge last month to make $1 billion dollars in early environmental damage payments, our enthusiasm is balanced with the understanding that considerably more money will be needed to fully restore areas affected by the 206 million-gallon spill.

A Down Payment on Delta Restoration

BP, which reported $7.1 billion in net profit for the first three months of 2011, negotiated the proposed payout with two federal agencies (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI)) and the five states along the Gulf of Mexico (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas). The agreement will allow BP to earn early action credits for addressing some of the environmental effects of last year’s spill. These payments could then reduce the company’s future obligations under the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process, which will likely take several years to complete.

Sources: Council on Environmental Quality, Wikimedia Commons

The money won’t be enough to cover all the costs of the disaster (as we’ll explain later), but there’s no denying that the down payment from BP could provide an unprecedented opportunity for Louisiana, which was hit with much of the oil from the Macondo well, to kick off long-delayed restoration projects in its coastal marshes and swamps.

The Mississippi River Delta covers most of southeastern Louisiana, and it is a significant source of fresh water and nutrients for the Gulf of Mexico. This area also is an important habitat for dozens of marine species that spawn and grow near the southern coast of Louisiana. For these reasons, the state of the delta and its environs is a useful gauge for the health of the Gulf.

Unfortunately, the Mississippi River Delta is a system on life support. What’s more, efforts to save this region are not moving fast enough to slow the pace of land loss, leaving the weakened wetlands increasingly vulnerable to damage from hurricanes, oil spills, and other disasters.

For example, in the four years since Congress authorized wetland restoration work under the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007, little progress has been made on completing the projects outlined in the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Near-Term Plan, which serves as a roadmap for restoration and preservation initiatives in the Pelican State’s wetlands. While the de-authorization and closure of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) was an important step towards reversing decades of marsh and cypress wetland loss in St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans, the roll-out of large-scale initiatives like the MRGO restoration (which would include the rehabilitation of the Central Wetlands Unit) has not yet occurred. In addition, priority projects like the Barataria Basin Barrier Shoreline Restoration and the Medium Diversion at White Ditch have barely moved past the planning phase.

If, as promised, $100 million of the $1 billion BP pledge is used for environmental restoration in the State of Louisiana, thousands of people could be put to work at LCA sites across the coastal zone. Additional funding from DOI and NOAA could provide necessary resources for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite projects including the pulsing diversions and other heavy engineering projects aimed at reconnecting the Mississippi River to its sediment-starved delta. All of that would be great news.

Continued Need for CWA Penalties

However, we must not forget that the environmental losses stemming from the BP oil disaster were probably far higher than $1 billion. For instance, when a hull breach caused the Prestige to sink off northwestern Spain in 2002, tens of thousands of tons of oil were released into the North Atlantic. Local unemployment jumped as jobs disappeared in Galicia’s seafood sector, and the region’s tourism revenue fell in the wake of the ecological disaster, widely regarded as the worst in Spain’s history. The World Wildlife Fund estimated that the cost of the Prestige disaster, which was much smaller than the Gulf oil spill, ranged from $3.4 – 6.8 billion.

Aside from the significant economic effects of incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon disaster (which already are being felt in Louisiana), we must also consider the cultural costs of spills. For example, the Exxon Valdez disaster was linked to subsequent declines in area fish populations that were devastating for Cordova and other fishing communities near Prince William Sound.  In southern Nigeria, the source of 40 percent of America’s oil imports, 50 years of incessant oil leaks and pipeline ruptures have resulted in the release of 1.5 million tons of petroleum in the Niger Delta and the Bight of Biafra. These spills have ruined farmland and important subsistence fisheries for local ethnic groups, including the Ijaw and the Ogoni.

How does one put a price tag on such losses? How soon will we understand the ecological effects of the massive oil spill and the subsurface dispersant releases last year in the Gulf of Mexico? When, if ever, will the rhythm of life in the Gulf Coast’s fishing towns return to pre-spill normalcy? For an incident on the scale of the BP oil disaster, multiple billions of dollars – not just one — will be needed to revitalize the threatened ecosystem and the economies that depend upon it.

Everything must be done to ensure that the money from BP’s pledge goes towards two near-term goals – rehabilitation of the region’s environment and the creation of job opportunities for its residents. At the same time, we must also continue to fight for the lion’s share of Clean Water Act penalties leveled against BP and other responsible parties. Congress still is deliberating on what to do with the money, and we must let them know that despite this down payment by BP, the CWA money should still be sent to the region whose people and businesses need it most — the Gulf Coast.

If you would like Congress to dedicate the Clean Water Act penalties to Gulf Coast restoration, please click on this Action Alert to send a message supporting the measure to your representatives.

Additionally, one of our generous supporters has offered to match $1-for-$1 any online gift made to EDF before May 31st, specifically to help us pass the RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act of 2011.  The RESTORE Act will force the government to allocate the fines paid by BP to Gulf Coast restoration, where it is needed most.  Please make your gift right now and it will be matched $1-for-$1.

Also posted in BP, BP Oil Disaster, Deepwater Horizon, Regional Economic Development, Stimulus, Water, Wetlands | Leave a comment

For Richer? No, for Poorer: Statistics Reveal Post-Spill Slowdown in Coastal Louisiana Job, Wage Growth

By | Bio | Published: April 20, 2011

Source: Flickr (matt coats)

During the run-up to the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, you probably read an article or two detailing the questionable use of BP’s money by elected officials on the Gulf Coast. Sensational stories about county officers rewarding themselves and their cronies with bloated contracts and shiny new gadgets during and after last year's spill appeared in The Washington Post and dozens of other newspapers. 

Should we be surprised or shocked by these revelations?  Show us a disaster, and we will find you egregious examples of profiteering in its wake.  It is naïve to suggest that the BP oil disaster, occurring in a poor region with a troubled history of malfeasance, would have been any different. 

However, it’s equally naïve to assume that things are now hunky-dory for everyone on the Gulf Coast. A year after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, we do not see legions of “spillionaires” sunning themselves on the region’s sandy white beaches.  Instead, we see thousands of dispossessed fishermen, service workers, and everyday people trying hard to make ends meet in a difficult economy.  We see people sweating in ever-longer unemployment lines and find their families avoiding trips to the beach, for fear of scaring youngsters with searing images of tar balls and rotting dolphin carcasses washing ashore. 

Lest you think we’re playing sad violins without statistics to back up our statements, take a look at the latest labor market report for the Mississippi River Delta.  This region bore the brunt of the oil disaster last summer, so it’s instructive to see how things have changed there in recent months.  When we compare workforce statistics from February 2010 against those for February 2011 (the most recent available), we find evidence that things have not improved for the average worker in that section of the spill zone.  

If anything, they’ve gotten worse. 

Trickling Down to Whom? 

Before the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Louisiana’s economy had been performing relatively well, with steady rates of labor participation and healthy wage growth despite the downturn.

Yet between February 2010 and February 2011, the unemployment rate in the nine parishes of the combined New Orleans and Houma Metropolitan Statistical Areas jumped more than one percent, while the national unemployment rate for civilian workers fell by nearly one percent. 

The increase in joblessness was alarming because of its magnitude and its scope. Unemployment rates rose by 0.9% or more in every one of the seven parishes in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area (Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany). Similar jumps in unemployment were observed in the two parishes of the Houma Metropolitan Area (Lafourche and Terrebonne). 

In Plaquemines Parish, one of the hardest hit sections of coastal Louisiana, the rate of unemployment surged from 5.9% to 8.4% between February 2010 and February 2011, equivalent to a 42.4% jump in the jobless rate. In another wetland parish, St. John the Baptist, the February 2011 unemployment rate (10.5%) stood a full percentage point higher than the national average of 9.5%. 

Changes in parish-level unemployment between February 2010 and February 2011. In the top graph, the two parishes furthest left form the Houma Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), while the remaining seven form the New Orleans MSA. In the bottom graph, increases in unemployment are shown on an inverted scale. Over the twelve-month period, the regional unemployment rate rose nearly 18%, surging from 6.4% to 7.5% (Sources: Louisiana Workforce Commission, U.S. Census Bureau)

We also see that in the energy sector – source of some of the highest paying jobs in the Mississippi River Delta – employment either held steady or dipped slightly in the months after the spill.  The New Orleans Metropolitan Area reported 100 fewer workers in “oil and gas extraction,” with employment falling from 7,600 workers (February 2010) to 7,500 workers (February 2011).  Similarly, in the Houma metropolitan area, the number of people employed in “support activities for mining” (i.e., servicing rigs and fuel facilities) fell from 4,900 in February 2010 to 4,700 one year later. Related sectors such as shipbuilding also have taken a hit, with the number of New Orleans area workers engaged in boat construction falling by 500 (equivalent to 8.3% of the Feb. ’10 workforce) since last winter. 

The weakening job market has been mirrored by a worsening situation on the salary front.  Across much of the nine-parish region, weekly wages for workers have flat-lined since the BP oil disaster.  In the New Orleans metropolitan area, workers’ earnings barely budged between February 2010 and February 2011, with average weekly take-home pay moving from $824.33 to $826.19, an increase of $1.86.  This miniscule growth in average compensation (0.2%) was about 1/10 of the increase in Consumer Price Index (2.1%) over the same period, suggesting that workers’ pay was not keeping pace with inflation. 

These numbers only tell the part of the story for one section of the spill zone.  If we were to examine unemployment (and underemployment) throughout the entire Gulf Coast, we would likely find even more evidence of the deleterious impacts wrought by the Deepwater Horizon disaster and its sticky aftermath.  While the “gusher of money” spewing from BP may have improved the financial situations of a relatively small number of politically connected residents, these broader statistics show that the wealth has not been trickling down to average folks in the region. 

Show Them the Money 

The “spillionaire” articles have prompted much-needed conversations about accountability and public spending in government chambers along the Gulf Coast.  We too believe that strict oversight will be needed to ensure that legal fines, Clean Water Act penalties, and other payments are directed towards efforts that will restore the environment and improve economic conditions for all affected by the spill. 

However, the fact remains that the lingering problems plaguing oil-soaked wetlands and ocean bottoms damaged last year will not be solved without money from the parties that were responsible for this catastrophic event.  We hope that lawmakers across the country will look past the screaming headlines and recognize this salient fact as they debate the fate of those funds in the weeks to come.

Also posted in Analysis, BP, BP Oil Disaster, Deepwater Horizon, Unemployment | Leave a comment

What Could the Oil Spill Commission Report Mean for Restoration Work in Louisiana?

By | Bio | Published: February 9, 2011

Deep Water ≠ Light Reading: At 380 pages, the Oil Spill Commission report offers an in-depth discussion of the 2010 disaster in the Gulf. One of the challenges facing Congress and the White House in 2011 is how to implement the report's recommendations, including ones that are pertinent to the health and survival of Louisiana's wetlands (Source: Oil Spill Commission)

Shortly after the Oil Spill Commission published its latest report to the President on January 11, the Environmental Defense Fund and seven other non-profits released a statement encouraging Congress to act on one of the report’s key recommendations.

The groups urged the Republican-led House and the Democratic-led Senate to unite behind proposals to direct 80 percent of the Clean Water Act (CWA) penalties assessed on parties responsible for the spill towards Mississippi River Delta restoration.  This theme was soon picked up on other blogs, and its message was echoed in timely editorials published later that week in The New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Economist, and The New York Times.

Given the broad base of local support for Gulf Coast restoration, and the shared opinion that oil spill penalties should support this initiative, it would make sense for a significant portion of the responsible corporations’ CWA fines to go towards rehabilitation of regions affected by the spill.  However, as Louisiana and its neighbors continue along the uneven path towards recovery, the question on many minds is how soon this environmental restoration funding–via CWA fines from BP, Transocean, and/or Halliburton–will translate into economic benefits for the people of the Gulf Coast.

And of those benefits, one could not come soon enough: jobs.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

At first glance, the employment issues facing Louisiana might not seem severe. That's because by some metrics, the state is doing far better than its peers.

Louisiana netted 19,200 new non-farm jobs between October 2009 and October 2010, while the United States as a whole eeked out a gain of 35,000 over the same period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the two years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the commodity and stock price slumps that followed, Louisiana’s unemployment rate has consistently remained below the national average.  In addition, the announcement of new factory openings and impending trade deals last summer was seen as evidence of the Louisiana economy’s resilience to recessionary shocks.

However, when you delve deeper into the numbers, you find that things are far from perfect in the Pelican State.  Especially worrisome are recent developments in Louisiana's employment indicators.  Louisiana was one of only 16 states to report an increase in unemployment between October 2009 and October 2010, and while the national unemployment rate fell slightly from 10.0 percent in November 2009 to 9.8 percent in November 2010, the state's unemployment rate rose from 7.3 percent to 8.2 percent during the 12-month period.  These numbers show that the gap between joblessness in Louisiana and unemployment in the rest of the United States is narrowing. In other words, they suggest that the job market in the Pelican State is worsening at the very moment when the job market of the nation-at-large is improving.

The wetland parishes have not escaped the economic pain.  In the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan statistical area – home to most of the Mississippi River Delta’s residents – every one of the seven parishes reported an increase in unemployment between November 2009 and November 2010.  The jobless rate in Orleans Parish surged from 8.1 percent to 9.8 percent, matching the national average.

One of the factors behind the recent uptick in unemployment was the BP oil disaster.  The effects of the Gulf oil spill appear to have been concentrated in the coastal parishes that were impacted earliest (and longest) by subsequent fishery closures and deepwater drilling moratoriums.  These events idled thousands of workers, putting a chill on the economy of southern Louisiana.  While the disaster itself created unexpected windfalls for some residents, many workers, especially those in the fishing and fossil fuel sectors, wonder if a return to pre-spill normalcy is possible now or in the near future.

Problems in Plaquemines Parish

As an example, consider the experience of Plaquemines Parish.  The finger-shaped parish, which includes the southernmost sections of Louisiana, extends into the Gulf of Mexico.  Given its lengthy coastline, the thinly-settled peninsula is economically dependent upon the riches that lie within and beneath its surrounding waters.

In 2009, Plaquemines Parish ranked fourth (behind the more heavily populated Terrebonne, Lafourche, and Jefferson Parishes) in the percentage of state commercial fishing licenses held by its residents.  That year, Plaquemines Parish issued 811 licenses to commercial oystermen and shrimpers, who in turn provided business for dozens of bait shops, restaurants, refueling depots, and repair stations dependent upon the fishing industry.  The parish also was an important supply point for offshore oil platforms, providing hundreds of jobs in catering and transportation for residents of Venice, Pointe à la Hache, and other ports.

Plaquemines Parish was one of the first places where oil from the Deepwater Horizon hit land.  Oil sheen was reported in East Bay and West Bay on May 7, and tar balls began washing ashore near South Pass on May 12, less than a month after the April 20 Macondo well explosion.

In the months that followed, temporary work from the Vessels of Opportunity Program and other cleanup projects helped to reduce the impact of the spill on employment in the parish, while the influx of journalists, spill voyeurs, and others provided steady business for companies situated near the spill zone.  Anecdotal evidence of an unexpected boom in Plaquemines Parish was borne out by ballooning sales tax revenue, which increased 80 percent year-on-year between June 2009 and June 2010.

Leader of the pack: The chart above illustrates the important role that fishing played in the pre-spill economy of Plaquemines Parish (Sources: Louisiana Workforce Commission, Plaquemines Parish Government)

Now the cameras have departed, and with them thousands of media personnel.  Since tourism has not yet rebounded to its pre-spill levels, the motels, hotels and restaurants in Plaquemines Parish are struggling to attract clients.  Besides the service sector, other industries critical to the economy of southern Louisiana – including fishing and energy extraction – remain in tough shape.  The sluggish recovery from the deepwater drilling moratorium has idled dozens of oil industry workers, while oystermen and shrimpers in coastal communities have faced shrinking demand for their catches amid a consumer backlash against Gulf Coast seafood.

Requiem for a bream: Several months after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, this dead fish was photographed in an oil-slicked stream near Pointe à la Hache, the seat of Plaquemines Parish (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Unsurprisingly, the distribution of funds from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) has not been enough to prevent real hardship from stalking the villages and hamlets of Plaquemines Parish, creating a surge of anger and desperation among workers with few alternatives to their pre-spill careers.

What will happen to these people?  What sort of training and development programs could be established to create opportunities for residents of Plaquemines Parish?  And how could these short-term opportunities be structured to improve the long-term health of southeastern Louisiana’s economy? 

The recovery of Plaquemines Parish could be helped along by post-spill legislation and its effect on long-delayed wetland protection projects.  If billions in oil spill penalties are used to expedite environmental rehabilitation in southeastern Louisiana, the swamp could replace the sea as the engine of economic growth in Plaquemines Parish.

The Economic Potential of Environmental Protection

Many of the areas coping with an increase in unemployment are the very places that would benefit most from an expedited program of coastal rehabilitation in southern Louisiana.  As a result of its location along the lowest reaches of the Mississippi River, Plaquemines Parish would be a major site for initiatives to rebuild and restore Louisiana’s deltaic wetlands.

Several of the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) projects authorized by Louisiana’s Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration (OCPR) are sited in Plaquemines Parish.  They include the Medium Diversion at Myrtle Grove, the Medium Diversion at White Ditch, the Barataria Basin Barrier Shoreline Restoration, and the Modification to the Caernarvon Diversion.  These public works projects will restore natural habitats critical to bird populations and aquatic life.  In addition, the wetlands and barrier islands they will create shall serve as natural components of the region’s flood defense system. 

The work will be expensive, but these investments will pay dividends by providing a new lease on life for southeastern Louisiana.  The LCA initiatives, in concert with other plans for coastal restoration and flood protection in southern Louisiana, could create tens of thousands of jobs for people throughout the Pelican State.

Hands-on Work at Hopedale: A construction crew installs flapgated culverts at a hydrologic restoration project site in St. Bernard Parish (Source: Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration)

If we reference the U.S. Army Corps Chief of Engineers’ project cost estimates for the White Ditch Diversion ($91.5 million) and the Barataria Basin Barrier Shoreline Restoration ($248.6 million), and use a jobs/spending ratio of 9.45 full-time equivalent (FTE) job-years per $1 million from our Central Wetlands Unit analysis, we can conservatively estimate that these two projects alone would create (91.5 + 248.6) * 9.45 ≈ 3,214 full-time jobs in Louisiana. If we instead use the respective spending caps (150 percent of projected cost) to estimate the price tag for these initiatives, and reference the Economic Policy Institute’s job/spending ratio of 20.3 FTE job-years per $1 million for environmental work, then we could say that, at the high end, the Barataria Basin Shoreline Restoration and the White Ditch Diversion would generate (1.5 * (91.5 + 248.6)) * 20.3 ≈ 10,356 full-time equivalent positions in Louisiana.  Inevitably, many of these jobs in construction, landscaping, engineering, and project management would go to residents of Plaquemines Parish, creating new opportunities for its 20,000 residents.

Regional leaders recognize that these efforts are important for the future of Plaquemines Parish and its neighbors.  Parish President Billy Nungesser, who was appointed to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) in 2009, has stated: “Our coastal plan is our economic development plan.  Failure is not an option.”

We agree.  The comprehensive restoration of southern Louisiana’s wetlands will demand consistent input from visiting planners, engineers, and consultants, providing a new client base for the state’s service sector.  Restored wetlands will provide resilient new habitat for aquatic life, improving the health of important fisheries in the Gulf and supporting the long-term recovery of Louisiana’s marine industries.  The flood protection afforded by buffering swamps and marshes will keep communities and infrastructure sheltered from storm surges and floods, allowing southeastern Louisiana to remain an active hub of America’s offshore energy industry.

To us, the case is clear, but the important decisions now lie with Congress and the President.  They have the power to make restoration funding a priority this calendar year. We hope that the House will act soon on recent legislation from Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) to direct Clean Water Act funds towards marsh and swamp restoration on the Gulf Coast.  Failure to move now on post-spill penalties for wetland rehabilitation would be a bad break for Louisiana, its beleaguered environment, and its battered economy.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Deepwater Horizon, Green Jobs, Regional Economic Development, Targeted Jobs, The White House, Unemployment, Wetlands | 1 Response

Point of Consensus: Why Gulf Coast Restoration Should Be a Priority for Republicans and Democrats in Congress

By | Bio | Published: December 6, 2010

After the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico dominated headlines (and Internet traffic) for months. As 2010 draws to a close, many wonder whether Congress will pass legislation to direct BP's Clean Water Act penalties towards restoration of areas affected by the spill (Sources: Associated Press, Flickr (Greenpeace USA 2010, SkyTruth), United States Senate)

On December 1st, Yahoo! published its list of the top ten searches of 2010. Can you guess what was ranked first?

The BP oil spill. Yep, it beat out the World Cup (#2), Kim Kardashian (#4), and perennial search crown contender Britney Spears (#10) to emerge as the subject that Yahoo!’s 631 million users mulled over most while browsing the net this year.

That's no small feat, either.  Despite the media’s hyper-focus on the midterm elections and saturation coverage of reality TV, it was the BP oil disaster, with its spillover effects on the environment and economy of the Gulf region, that captured more attention than any other subject on one of America’s most popular websites.  It marked the first time ever that a news story topped Yahoo's year-end list.

Unfortunately for the Gulf, search engine titles don’t dictate business in the U.S. Senate.  Despite the surge of domestic interest in environmental rehabilitation and corporate responsibility stemming from the spill, the upper house of Congress seems unable to match this buzz with commensurate action to protect and restore the Gulf Coast.  A bill designed to improve drilling standards, with thoughtful provisions to maintain the competitiveness of America’s energy industry, passed successfully in the House of Representatives this summer but stalled in the Senate.  More recently, provisions to dedicate oil spill penalties to Gulf restoration that were included in the House-passed bill in July have failed to capture the attention of a fractured and divided chamber.  This comes despite recommendations from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus (in his commission’s post-spill report) for Congress to create a Gulf Coast Recovery Fund with a "significant amount" of BP fine money.   Meanwhile, the Gulf of Mexico remains damaged, its coastlines continue to erode, its wildlife stays vulnerable, and its fishing and tourism sectors remain on life support.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Why should we accept this lack of action as a given?  I mean, do bluegills or redfish swimming in polluted waters know (or care) about Senate procedure?  How does one explain a “lame-duck” session to shorebirds sickened by oil pollution?

It is past time for politicians from both parties to unite on comprehensive rehabilitation of the Gulf Coast. Wetland restoration, water quality improvement, and wildlife protection aren’t just important values in “blue state” beach towns on Cape Cod or the California coast.  If Democrats and Republicans can respect the will of Gulf Coast voters and show that economic recovery and ecosystem restoration can go hand-in-hand in one of the country’s “reddest” regions, they will demonstrate to naysayers that environmental protection is a priority for all Americans, regardless of their political stripes.

Red, White, and Blue: In a September 2010 survey of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas residents, 72% (+/- 2.2%) of respondents said they'd be more likely to vote for federal legislators who support new investments in Gulf Coast restoration (Sources: Bellwether Research and Consulting, Lake Research Partners, The Walton Family Foundation)

Blogging About the Bills

Towards that end, we’re participating in a Nature Blog Network initiative to bolster public support for spill bill passage in the Senate.  Ideally, such a bill would dedicate the lion’s share of BP’s Clean Water Act (CWA) penalties to cleaning up the waters and wetlands of the Gulf Coast.

We applaud Louisiana’s congressional delegates for taking the lead in advancing these efforts.  Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) sponsored the Gulf Coast Restoration Act, which would give at least 80 percent of the CWA fine money to the states impacted by the spill.  Similarly, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has sponsored a Senate bill, the Restoring Ecosystem Sustainability and Protection on the Delta (RESPOND) Act, which calls for no less than 80 percent of the BP CWA financial penalties to be used for “long-term economic and environmental recovery” on the Gulf Coast.

Given EDF’s consistent efforts to support restoration of the Mississippi River Delta, we believe it is important for Congress to act quickly on the funding issue. The BP oil disaster brought attention to the degraded condition of the Gulf and its coast. The health of the delta is particularly important for the long-term recovery of the Gulf of Mexico, but over the past eighty years, more than 2,300 square miles of the Mississippi River Delta (equivalent to one-third of its pre-1930 area) disappeared due to land loss. Historic development of private and public infrastructure for national economic activity (including, but not limited to, the production, transportation, and processing of oil and gas) dramatically impacted salinity levels, sediment flows, and other determinants of wetland health. This erosion of coastal Louisiana, an environmental catastrophe in and of itself, has in turn affected the economic resilience of the region. For instance, the disappearance of coastal nurseries for marine life has impacted the fishing industry in Louisiana. In addition, the loss of deltaic wetlands has left portions of southern Louisiana (and much of the nation’s energy and shipping infrastructure) more exposed to storm surge damage from hurricanes.

While initiatives to reverse this land loss were authorized under sections 7002 and 7006 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007, not all of the projects have received the requisite construction appropriations to move forward. This means that wetlands that could have been more resilient to spills were not restored prior to the Deepwater Horizon explosion, leaving Louisiana’s coast even more vulnerable to oil damage. Some scientists believe that without quick action to rebuild and restore the delta (action that could be expedited with CWA penalty funding), the land loss destroying coastal Louisiana could become irreversible within decades.

The Next Steps

Source: Flickr (artbymags)

Whether or not these bills will pass before the end of the 111th Congress is anyone’s guess.  But even if the legislation fails during the current session, there’s no reason why the 112th Congress should ignore these proposals when it convenes in January.

Conservatives might like the fact that this stream of potential restoration money doesn’t come from a new tax, or the fact that even if 80 percent of the $5-21 billion expected to be levied against BP were given to Louisiana and its neighbors, the Federal treasury would still be receiving as much as $1-4 billion for possible debt reduction.  Liberals might like the idea that billions are finally being used to remedy environmental damage in a region that has served as a source of fossil fuels for more than a century.  People from both parties will like the fact that money spent on restoring wetlands, analyzing air and water quality, and resuscitating threatened ecosystems will generate employment in one of America’s poorest regions, providing a boost to industries all along the Gulf Coast.

If you support this effort and wish to get involved, please contact your local congressional representatives via this Action Alert.  In this season of service, the minutes you give to write letters and e-mails could be critical in turning constituent chatter to congressional action.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Congress, Regional Economic Development, Water, Wetlands | Leave a comment

Music to Our Ears

By | Bio | Published: November 24, 2010

Source: GRN

Let’s have a round of applause for the Gulf Restoration Network (GRN). Last week, it brought together ninety musicians and bands to draft a letter to the President about saving coastal Louisiana.

As reported in The Hill on November 19th, a motley crew of musical acts, including the Indigo Girls, My Morning Jacket, and Pearl Jam, urged President Obama to remain focused on long-term rehabilitation of areas impacted by the BP oil disaster. For centuries, the Mississippi River delta and other sections of the Gulf Coast have served as incubators of jazz, zydeco, and other musical genres, making this region an important center for American music.

While praising the creation of a Gulf Coast Recovery Plan and efforts to set up a $20 billion trust fund for community damages, the artists noted that the “amazing and irreplaceable cultures of the Gulf region” remain vulnerable in the wake of the disaster. Citing the need to reverse decades of environmental degradation on the Gulf Coast, they suggested that “a large portion of the fines levied against BP should be dedicated to on-going restoration efforts through…Gulf Restoration plan implementation.” 

These musicians join a growing chorus of movers and shakers who support the use of oil spill fines and assessments for environmental restoration in coastal Louisiana. While the chances of securing dedicated funding from BP’s Clean Water Act penalties appear slim during the lame-duck session of Congress, we’re encouraged by the crescendo of interest in preserving and protecting the Pelican State. It’s our hope that the efforts of these notables and others will translate into tangible measures to rebuild and restore this region.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Deepwater Horizon, External Media, The White House | Leave a comment

Has It Really Been Six Months?

By | Bio | Published: October 20, 2010

Fire on the water: Coast Guard vessels hose down the burning wreckage of Deepwater Horizon on April 21, the day after the accident that triggered the BP oil disaster (Source: United States Coast Guard)

Half a year has passed since the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20th. In the months that followed, the wetlands of southern Louisiana and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico were sullied by millions of barrels of crude oil from the Macondo well, and the region’s residents were forced to confront the myriad economic and environmental issues stemming from one of the biggest oil spills of all time.

The BP oil disaster brought much needed attention to the ecological challenges facing coastal Louisiana, a topic we had been discussing on our blog for months prior to the spill. However, there’s a sinking feeling that the capping of the well and the drafting of a recovery report have solved all the problems in the Gulf.

They haven’t, which is why we and others at the Environmental Defense Fund have been actively involved in efforts to shape the recovery and renewal of the Gulf Coast. On one of our sister blogs, Chief Oceans Scientist Doug Rader penned a fascinating series this past September about the environmental risks associated with ignoring the lingering effects of the spill on wildlife in the Gulf.

More recently, EDFers in our Washington office have been busy with efforts to secure BP’s Clean Water Act penalty payments for wetland restoration and other regenerative projects near the spill zone. Writing yesterday in The Hill, Paul Harrison, the director of EDF’s coastal Louisiana program, observed that Congress has yet to confirm whether BP’s penalties will be funneled into the Federal treasury or rightly diverted to a recovery fund for long-term restoration of the Gulf.

If you ask the people who lived through the trauma of the spill, they’ll confirm what we already know: Significant majorities of Democrats (82%), Republicans (67%), and Independents (67%) in areas affected by the BP oil disaster support federal and state involvement in comprehensive rehabilitation of the Gulf Coast.

Why should they be denied what they rightfully deserve? As we’ve stated before on our blog, ecosystem restoration has the potential to generate jobs and generate hope for the people of the Gulf Coast. As we pass the six-month milestone, we hope that decision makers and politicians from both parties will come together to ensure that the wetlands and waters of this region are made whole again.

Also posted in BP, BP Oil Disaster, Congress, Deepwater Horizon | Leave a comment

Events: BP Oil Spill Assessment and Restoration Meetings, October 25-28

By | Bio | Published: October 18, 2010

Next week, several state agencies in Louisiana will be co-hosting a series of public meetings about the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) for the BP oil disaster. The sessions will be sponsored by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office (LOSCO), the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.

The NRDA process will provide critical guidance for rehabilitation of areas damaged by the oil spill. In addition, input gathered from local residents will be used by state and federal officials to guide comprehensive restoration of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands.

Please attend one of the following sessions:

Monday, October  25
Nicholls State University
Pell Pier Auditorium (Bldg. #40)
906 E. 1st Street
Thibodaux, LA
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Targeted Parishes: Terrebonne/St. Mary/Lafourche 

Tuesday, October 26
 Jefferson Council Chambers, Yenni Building
1221 Elmwood Park Boulevard
Harahan, Louisiana
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Targeted Parishes: Jefferson/Orleans/St. Tammany

Wednesday, October  27
Iberia Parish Library
445 E. Main Street
New Iberia, LA
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Targeted Parishes: Iberia/Vermilion/Cameron

Thursday, October 28
St. Bernard Council Chambers
8201 West Judge Perez Drive
Chalmette, LA
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Targeted Parishes: Plaquemines/St. Bernard

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), Events | Leave a comment

White House Releases Preliminary Recovery Plan for the Gulf Coast

By | Bio | Published: September 29, 2010

Three months after President Obama pledged his commitment to Gulf Coast restoration in a June address from the Oval Office, the White House released a report yesterday that outlines recommendations for ecosystem restoration and economic recovery in the region affected by the BP oil spill. The paper was drafted by a working group led by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who once served as the Governor of Mississippi.

Several conference calls were held to coincide with the publication of America's Gulf Coast: A Long Term Recovery Plan After The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Along with four other non-profits, the Environmental Defense Fund issued a press release on Tuesday that offered broad support for the central tenets of the Mabus report, including the creation of a Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force chaired by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

By an overwhelming majority, residents of the Gulf Coast want their political leaders to deliver on the promise of environmental restoration. Still, the path to recovery is far from finished, as funding for the recommendations in the Mabus report has not yet been finalized in Congress.

In the next few days, we’ll be writing more about what this could mean for economic development and job creation in the coastal zone, but for now, we’d like to hear from you. Take a look through the report and send us your thoughts.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Congress, Green Jobs, Regional Economic Development, The White House | Leave a comment

A Great Video Series from the Gulf Restoration Network

By | Published: September 22, 2010

Our friends at the Gulf Restoration Network have just released the seventh video in their Gulf Tides series chronicling the BP disaster. The latest installment discusses the lingering oil that remains in the Gulf, its effects on fisherman, the long term impacts on the fishery, and questions surrounding the disposal of soiled booms and clean-up equipment.

The videos do a great job of addressing the myriad of issues with the spill, getting community reactions and providing expert analysis (with narration from Tim Robbins to boot).  Make sure to pass it on to your networks.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, External Media, Fish | 2 Responses

The Well Is Dead, But Its Legacy Lingers

By | Bio | Published: September 20, 2010

Six thousand feet under: The Transocean Development Driller II at work on a relief well near the Deepwater Horizon site. After several weeks of boring deep beneath the Gulf, the Transocean driller successfully completed its work this weekend, with the ruptured well plugged at its source. However, challenges remain for the communities and companies that were impacted by the Gulf oil spill (Source: Associated Press)

Early yesterday morning, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (formerly known as the Minerals Management Service) formally declared an end to the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  Nearly five months to the day after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, and two months after a temporary cap was fitted over the well, pressure tests at the Macondo 252 site confirmed that a cement seal over the well was holding.  These tests indicated that the undersea gusher had been “killed,” meaning there was minimal risk of it spewing more oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico.

We’re as happy as anyone that the well at the Deepwater Horizon site is no longer posing an immediate danger to the waters and wetlands of southern Louisiana. However, we think it’s premature to say that the BP oil disaster, which released more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, has reached its endpoint.  While the well is dead, it has left industries and livelihoods on life support in its wake.  Controversial decisions about drilling moratoriums and fishery closures have engendered fierce debates about the balance between environmental protection and economic activity in this section of America’s Energy Coast.  We feel that there is still a pressing need for BP to work with local officials and community leaders to ensure that a healthy and vibrant ecosystem can coexist with the fossil fuel sector in coastal Louisiana. Because this region is so important to our domestic energy and transport needs, this effort may demand a national commitment to fully support comprehensive restoration of the Gulf Coast.

We aren’t the only ones who share this opinion.  Along with EDF’s coastal Louisiana program, our friends in the organization’s Oceans program have been blogging about the need for sound scientific investigation into the status of the Gulf of Mexico and its marine life.  The editorial board of The New York Times has also weighed in on the subject, and this morning, in an interview with CNN, former Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen stated that cleaning up the Pelican State's marshes and beaches will be a long, drawn-out process.

To effectively deal with the damage from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the people of Louisiana will require input and advice from many stakeholders, including the major oil companies that have operated in their state for decades.  Let’s hope that the death of the Deepwater Horizon well marks the birth of a new phase of honest dialogue and consensus building about safe oil exploration in coastal Louisiana.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Chemicals, Deepwater Horizon, Unemployment, Wildlife | Leave a comment