Something I mentioned a few days ago, the arguments beginning about the allocation of the fine BP will pay for its oil spill…economy versus environment… and yeah, I get that some people would love to get renovations done for the Port of Mobile, but Louisiana is losing a large section of its, well, of its geographical state. Yes, we all knew that, but a recently released map spells it all out in greater detail…

“A new map produced by the U.S. Geological Survey National Wetlands Research Center has confirmed that during a 78-year period between 1932 and 2010, roughly 1,883 square miles, or 25 percent of Louisiana’s wetlands have been lost to combined elements of erosion due to tropical storms and hurricanes as well as coastal cutting by industry, the construction of certain dams and levees and most significantly the rerouting of major waterways including the Mississippi River following the great flood of 1927 that robbed the region of needed sediment for prolonged survival.”

And not to put too fine a point on it, but:

“Researchers specifically noted the Terrebonne Basin, Breton Sound, Barataria, and communities including Golden Meadow, Grand Isle, Houma, Thibodaux and New Orleans as populated areas of greatest concern.”

Which isn’t to say that other states in the region haven’t lost or aren’t deserving of their fair share of the money…they have and they are, but when the money is allocated, perhaps this time, just this once, politicians will drop the politics in favor of the foresight necessary to truly address a problem rather than commissioning one more study that wastes another few years…

…or not.

Read the article:

Wetlands map reveals south La’s coastline losses

Have a nice day.