NOLA T-P - $35.1 Million For Louisiana Coastal Restoration Just Way Too Expensive, GOP Maintains

[hatrack]

The $35.6 million for Louisiana coastal restoration projects that President Obama included last year in his proposed 2011 budget is only a sliver of what it will take to reverse decades of coastal wetlands loss -- but it is at least a start. That's why it's frustrating that this modest appropriation is coming under attack in Congress. A proposed energy and water bill in the House would ban any new construction starts by the Army Corps of Engineers. The White House says that move will zero out money in the president's budget that would pay for the first phase of ecosystem reconstruction in Louisiana.

"This legislation represents (the) commitment of the Republican majority to restoring restraint and responsibility to the appropriations process in a time when we cannot spend as we used to,'' Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers of Kentucky said.

But restoring fiscal responsibility and restoring Louisiana's coast are not mutually exclusive. In fact, failing to address Louisiana's coastal erosion crisis now will ensure continuing wetlands loss -- to the detriment of this state and the entire country.

Louisiana is losing 25 square miles of coastal wetlands every year. The culprits include natural forces such as subsidence and storms but also human activity like leveeing of the Mississippi River and cutting canals through marshes for oil and gas exploration.

EDIT

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2011/07/congress_shortchanges_the_loui.html

[phantom power]

1. Austerity 4evah!

:woohoo:

[HereSince1628]

2. The only environment to protect is the business environment

Every republican understands this. Every dollar spent on nature is a dollar not giving tax relief to business.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. How's the restoration of Trent's house and porch comin' along . . . . ?

[librechik]

4. stingiest cretins ever

get ready for the next Katrina by buying waterwings