coastal restoration

Louisiana’s ambitious plan to save and restore its coastline is stalled amid lawsuits seeking to halt the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project. And now Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has voiced his own concerns about the project which environmental advocates fear could stall the project indefinitely.

Coastal Desk

Uncertainty looms over plan to save coastal Louisiana

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

Federal leaders and Gov. Jeff Landry clash over the state’s projected spending for the $3 billion project.

Louisiana leaders broke ground on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project on Aug. 10, 2023, but construction on the project has been delayed. Two separate lawsuits are challenging the impacts it could have on the state’s coastline. Louisiana is in danger of losing the more than $2 billion allocated for the project if it doesn’t commit to seeing it through.

Coastal Desk

Louisiana could be out billions of dollars if controversial coastal restoration stalls

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

The feds threaten to withhold $2.2 billion from the massive effort to save and restore the state’s diminishing coastline if leaders don’t act soon.

An aerial view of broken wetlands in Plaquemines Parish. Projections by Climate Central indicate that the parish could lose another 100,000 acres of wetlands by the end of the century.

Coastal Desk

Louisiana voters want federal money from offshore wind to go toward coastal restoration

Eva Tesfaye

Louisiana’s coastal restoration fund could get a boost from offshore wind revenues.

The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a man-made navigational channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans, is deemed a critical protection asset for the greater New Orleans area, and in 2017 was added to the list of restoration projects identified by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Coastal Desk

As funding dries up for Louisiana’s coastal restoration program, advocates are strategizing to sustain it

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

A coalition of environmental groups is pushing 18 projects to protect Gulf Coast communities from land loss and storm damage.

A Gulf Shores High School student counts the number of oysters in a cluster at the Little Lagoon Preservation Society’s oyster gardens in Gulf Shores, Alabama, on Feb. 9, 2024.

Coastal Desk

From sea to table to sea: How recycled oyster shells are restoring the Alabama coast

Danny McArthur

Gulf South oyster reefs are fading because of the changing climate. Alabama hopes to reverse this by using recycled shells to grow oyster gardens.

Local News

Louisiana Considered: Pros and cons of coastal litigation and how it impacts restoration

Adam Vos

While some see litigation as a powerful tool to protect Louisiana's shrinking coastline, others find this method frivolous.

Gulf States (TX, LA, MS, and AL) currently share 37.5 percent of royalties generated by oil and gas activity in the Gulf of Mexico. The rest goes to the federal government. Sen. Bill Cassidy's bill aims to increase the states' share to 50 percent.

Local News

Bill Advances In Senate That Would Increase Louisiana’s Oil And Gas Royalties, Restoration Money

Travis Lux

A bill that could increase the amount of royalty money Louisiana gets from offshore oil and gas drilling advanced in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday . The...

Several brown pelicans were reported either injured or killed in both Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes. After an investigation and necropsies, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries determined that no foul play was involved.

Coastal Desk

Coastal News Roundup: Who, Or What, Killed Pelicans In St. Bernard and Plaquemines?

Travis Lux

This week on the Coastal News Roundup: officials investigate who or what might have been behind all the dead pelicans in Plaquemines and St. Bernard...

Politics

Sustaining Rebuilt Coastal Marshes

Dr. Robert Twilley, LSU Oceanic Studies professor and director of the Louisiana Sea Grant program, it’s time to rethink the premises upon which Louisiana…

Politics

Latest Coastal Plan Banking On Big Bucks (Finally!)

"“This is going to be the most money we’ve spent, right?" asked state Senator Norby Chabert of Houma."Yes, sir," CPRA executive director Mike Ellis…