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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: yard_man who wrote (19504)	5/22/2003 11:19:11 PM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

La.'s Coast Eroding Faster Than Thought Thu May 22, 3:07 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo! By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer NEW ORLEANS - The erosion of Louisiana's fragile coast is even worse than previously thought, and a third of the state's shoreline, home to the fabled Mississippi River Delta, could be wiped out by 2050 without urgent action, the U.S. Geological Survey (news - web sites) said. Between 1932 and 2000, about 1,900 square miles of Louisiana's marshy coast washed away, up from the previous estimate of 1,500 square miles, said the USGS (news - web sites), an Interior Department bureau charged with safeguarding the environment. The new figure was presented Wednesday to President Bush (news - web sites)'s environmental policy adviser, Jim Connaughton, who traveled to Louisiana to learn about erosion around the Delta. "Over the next 36 hours you will witness the greatest kept secret, you will see the pending destruction of the seventh largest delta in the world," King Milling, chairman of Gov. Mike Foster's advisory committee on coastal restoration, told Connaughton. "We believe that this administration should not become an unwitting partner to these catastrophic events," Milling said. To win hearts for a massive restoration project, the state is highlighting the importance of the business, wildlife and culture on the Delta — birthplace of the Blues, home to endangered species like the Louisiana black bear and American alligator, and a wintering ground for migratory songbirds. Louisiana wants the federal government to approve a major coastal engineering plan that could cost about $14 billion over several decades. Scientists say the bill is relatively cheap: Doing nothing, they estimate, will cost more than $100 billion just to restore infrastructure. Over the next 50 years, an additional 700 square miles of coastline are expected to be washed away, meaning a third of the Louisiana coast could be gone by 2050 unless new Mississippi River sediment is diverted to swamps and marshes, the USGS said. Louisiana represents about 90 percent of coastal wetlands loss in the lower 48 states, it said. The coast's problems date back to 1928, when the Mississippi River was corralled by levees and dams, which stopped flooding but also kept sediment — needed to replenish the coast — from reaching the deltaic plain. Navigation canals, oil and natural gas exploration and hurricanes also have chewed up the coast. Connaughton's trip includes a visit to Port Fourchon, which is key to the country's oil supply, and a meeting with Foster, who has begun a campaign to raise awareness nationally of Louisiana's coastal erosion. "I'm here to get a sense of the big picture," Connaughton said at a Wednesday briefing in New Orleans before leaving on a helicopter trip to the coast. Connaughton said Bush is interested in preserving wetlands and infrastructure. He said he will use what he learns about Louisiana's problem to better counsel the president on what can be done. The condition of the coast south of New Orleans in the Barataria and Terrebonne basins is the worst, said James Johnston of the Geological Survey's National Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette. Since 1990, about 66 percent of the state's coastal loss occurred south of New Orleans and scientists estimate the area could produce as much as 80 percent of the loss over the next 50 years unless restoration work is done. In the last decade, Louisiana has spent over $400 million on about 65 restoration projects, which have dealt with about 22 percent of the land loss, said Randy Hanchey, assistant secretary for coastal restoration at the state Department of Natural Resources. A group of state and federal agencies is working on the broader $14 billion restoration plan and hopes it will be ready for Congress next year. "We will continue making the argument that this is not only our problem but the nation's problem," Hanchey said. ___

To: yard_man who wrote (19504)	5/22/2003 11:32:27 PM
From: Jim Willie CB	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 89467

I believe Saudi Arabia will be in grave trouble next summer I expected the House of Saud to fall it has begun a far different road to pursue in coming to Saudi's aid, at their request, when the Fundamentalists attack via their Al Qaeda arms it has begun, and it will not stop King Faisal and his gang of corrupt, promiscuous, lecherous, hoarding, profligate lazy sumbitches are in deep trouble they have slept with the enemy... US Saudi economic development has been more significant than any other Arab nation but there is no middle class, and there is such widespread poverty I read that the standard of living has dropped 60% since 1980 these guys in the royal family are like mobsters without the criminal enforcement heavies when the Saudi family falls, and they will fall, we are in deep shit for reliable oil supplies I think this reinforced the motives for going into the "easy" Iraq it allows a base for defending Saudi Arabia I dont believe even 2% of Americans have a clue about trouble is SA / jim