A federal court ruling handed down last week charged the Army Corps of Engineers with “gross negligence” that led to the catastrophic flooding in New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Katrina.
U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. minced no words in issuing his ruling, saying that the corps failure to properly maintain the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO) shipping channel directly contributed to the breaching levees that swamped much of New Orleans in 2005, a disaster from which many residents have yet to recover.
In his ruling, Judge Duval said that Corps of Engineers “shoddy oversight” of the shipping channel located southeast of New Orleans caused much of the flooding of St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward, two areas hit hardest flooding after Katrina smashed into the gulf coast.

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Elevated global temperatures bring a number of threats, including rising seas and more crop-withering heat waves. Higher surface water temperatures in the tropical oceans also provide more energy to drive tropical storm systems, leading to more-destructive hurricanes and typhoons. The combination of rising seas, more powerful storms, and stronger storm surges can be devastating.

As noted in my most recent book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, just how devastating this combination can be became evident in late August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina came onshore on the U.S. Gulf Coast near New Orleans. In some Gulf Coast towns, Katrina’s powerful 28-foot-high storm surge did not leave a single structure standing. New Orleans survived the initial hit but was flooded when the inland levees were breached and water covered everything in large parts of the city except for the rooftops, where thousands of people were stranded. Even in August 2006, a year after the storm had passed, the most damaged areas of the city remained without water, power, sewage disposal, garbage collection, or telecommunications.

With advance warning of the storm and official urging to evacuate coastal areas, 1 million or so evacuees fled northward into Louisiana or to neighboring states of Texas and Arkansas. Of this total, more than 200,000 have not yet returned home and will likely never do so. These storm evacuees are the world’s first large wave of climate refugees.

Katrina was the most financially destructive hurricane ever to make landfall anywhere. It was one of eight hurricanes that hit the southeastern United States in 2004 and 2005. As a result of the unprecedented damage, insurance premiums have doubled, tripled, and even in some especially vulnerable situations gone up 10-fold. This enormous jump in insurance costs is lowering coastal real estate values and driving people and businesses out of highly exposed states like Florida.

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Three and a half years ago, not many would have suspected that New Orleans would ever recover, let alone demonstrate the promise of prosperity after Hurricane Katrina wiped out an already fragile economy.  At the time the levee broke, New Orleans was already suffering from an exodus initiated in the late 80’s when the oil industry began its regional decline.  But the very characteristics that have given New Orleans its unique disposition are those contributing to its stealth recovery.

Communities that support successful entrepreneurship exhibit a similar range of traits.  Not surprisingly, many of them are emotional qualities bred by circumstance and history.   New Orleans was a late addition to the United States, acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.  Literally separated by swamps and rivers, New Orleans benefited from both a distance and unique geographic location.  In combination with its very European roots, quite literally the city enjoyed a more laissez-faire approach to development which lent itself to a certain type of creativity and openness.

This same bayou location plus southern gulf weather has also not been kind to it, which has bred another entrepreneurial quality, emotional fortitude.   One could argue that this is an innate quality but New Orleans has an extra high concentration of this, born of survivor-ship.  From this comes a kind of optimism and resiliency that drives entrepreneurs ever forward.

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If you were to click on my bio here for Sustainablog, you’d see that I started down this green path because my son who was six at the time had read about global warming and gave us the “what for” over the SUV we owned. We joke now with him that he was the one that got this whole thing started for our family, yet at times he seems, at almost ten years old, the least interested in the environment. In a way, that may be a good thing.

The Boston Globe reported that Climate change takes a mental toll, and that children and adults alike are starting to have “psychosis or anxiety disorders focused on climate change.” Children especially “are having nightmares about global-warming-related natural disasters.”

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(Did you know, by the way, that President Barack Obama’s pick for head of the Environmental Protection Agency — Linda Jackson — grew up in the lower Ninth Ward?)

So what’s new and green in the Crescent City? Check out some of these developments:

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  ]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/01/27/green-new-orleans-updates-good-news-in-the-big-easy/feed/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/02/us-to-resume-filling-strategic-petroleum-reserve/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/02/us-to-resume-filling-strategic-petroleum-reserve/#comments Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:42:53 +0000 Timothy B. Hurst http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/02/us-to-resume-filling-strategic-petroleum-reserve/

  Last week sustainablog asked what your government was doing about peak oil. With all the layers of government to which I am subjected, I immediately thought to myself that there is no short answer. Now, at the very least, I have a partial answer:  My federal government is preparing for peak oil by topping off the tanks of the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve.

  The U.S. Department of Energy today announced that it plans to take advantage of the recent decline in crude oil prices, and will purchase approximately 12 million barrels of crude oil for the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to replenish supplies sold following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

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  ]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/02/us-to-resume-filling-strategic-petroleum-reserve/feed/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/12/03/lower-ninth-ward-eco-friendly-playground/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/12/03/lower-ninth-ward-eco-friendly-playground/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:12:15 +0000 Derek Markham http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/12/03/lower-ninth-ward-eco-friendly-playground/

  The most technologically advanced, eco-friendly, solar powered playground, the first of its kind in North America, is being dedicated in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward today.

  The Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans suffered catastrophic flooding after Hurricane Katrina pummeled New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and many of the residents lost their homes.

  They also lost something else.

  Playgrounds.

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  ]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/12/03/lower-ninth-ward-eco-friendly-playground/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/11/17/louisiana-kids-work-to-save-wetlands/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/11/17/louisiana-kids-work-to-save-wetlands/#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:43:25 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/11/17/louisiana-kids-work-to-save-wetlands/ What a great way to both help restore a critical ecosystem while teaching young kids valuable lessons about the real world: encourage schoolchildren to grow wetland plants at their schools for later planting in coastal habitat restoration projects.

  That’s what Louisiana State University’s (LSU) Coastal Roots Project aims to do. Established in the pre-Katrina days of 2001, the program is now more vital than ever and — happy to say — schools across the state have come on board to join the cause.

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  ]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/11/17/louisiana-kids-work-to-save-wetlands/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/30/solar-powered-anti-fema-trailer-stars-in-new-orleans/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/30/solar-powered-anti-fema-trailer-stars-in-new-orleans/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:29:37 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/30/solar-powered-anti-fema-trailer-stars-in-new-orleans/ What’s the opposite of one of those formaldehyde-reeking FEMA trailers so many Katrina victims had to live in — and get sick in — for months and months? Check out New York artist Paul Villinski’s “Emergency Response Studio,” a solar-powered, refurbished, non-toxic and self-sufficient artist’s studio on wheels.

  Set to go on display Nov. 1 as part of the Prospect.1 New Orleans art show, Villlinski’s trailer is a mobile testament to his mission of transforming trash into objects of beauty or functionality (he’s also created butterfly sculptures out of old beer cans and LPs, and wings, jackets, blankets and bags out of lost gloves).

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  ]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/30/solar-powered-anti-fema-trailer-stars-in-new-orleans/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/28/campaign-aims-for-3-million-artworks-to-clean-new-orleans-toxic-soils/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/28/campaign-aims-for-3-million-artworks-to-clean-new-orleans-toxic-soils/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:59:37 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/28/campaign-aims-for-3-million-artworks-to-clean-new-orleans-toxic-soils/ So many hard-working and innovative people have stepped in with projects to help rebuild New Orleans in the wake of the devastating 2005 levee failures, but the Fundred Dollar Bill Project is beyond unique.

  The project’s goal is to encourage schoolchildren across the U.S. to create their own version of a $100 bill dubbed a “Fundred Dollar Bill” (a blend of “fun,” “fund” and “hundred”) … for a total of 3 million Fundreds in all. Once completed, those 3 million Fundreds will be collected for delivery to Washington, D.C., in a biofuel-powered armored truck in hopes of receiving in return $300 million in real currency to protect New Orleans residents — kids especially — from the toxic levels of lead found in the city’s soil.

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  ]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/10/28/campaign-aims-for-3-million-artworks-to-clean-new-orleans-toxic-soils/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/08/15/everglades-national-park-approves-ambitious-23-million-plan-for-eco-friendly-lodge/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/08/15/everglades-national-park-approves-ambitious-23-million-plan-for-eco-friendly-lodge/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:03:22 +0000 Levi Novey http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/08/15/everglades-national-park-approves-ambitious-23-million-plan-for-eco-friendly-lodge/ Everglades National Park has obtained approval to proceed with a plan to redesign the most developed area of the park with an emphasis on promoting sustainability. Through building design, alternative energy, and improved transportation systems, the park area known as “Flamingo” will be reborn as an example for other parks to follow.

  Flamingo is near the very bottom tip of Florida’s mainland, and in 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma landed a knock-out punch to what was until then a heavily visited area. Damage from the hurricanes effectively destroyed a dilapidated but popular lodge, its restaurant, and numerous other facilities– leaving virtually no place for park visitors to stay overnight in the park if not camping.

  The park was pressured by numerous groups to rebuild overnight visitor facilities as soon as possible. After releasing several plans and receiving public comment, the park has selected a plan that blends sustainable ideas with creature comforts. I myself used to work as a park ranger in Flamingo, and I think the plan is brilliant. There’s only one catch: the park has no idea where to get the estimated $20-23 million it needs to bring the plan to fruition.

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  ]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/08/15/everglades-national-park-approves-ambitious-23-million-plan-for-eco-friendly-lodge/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/06/13/the-upside-to-natural-disasters/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/06/13/the-upside-to-natural-disasters/#comments Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:18:50 +0000 Levi Novey http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/06/13/the-upside-to-natural-disasters/ Before I write anything else, I want to unequivocally explain that I think natural disasters are terrible. They cause countless deaths and incredible human suffering. With that being understood, I often find myself believing that things happen in nature for a reason, and so I started to ponder what some of the good aspects to natural disasters might be. I’ve come up with three ideas about what might be some positive consequences of natural disasters.

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  ]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/06/13/the-upside-to-natural-disasters/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/06/05/uw-madison-students-to-restore-bayou-in-new-orleans-lower-ninth-ward/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/06/05/uw-madison-students-to-restore-bayou-in-new-orleans-lower-ninth-ward/#comments Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:49:21 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/06/05/uw-madison-students-to-restore-bayou-in-new-orleans-lower-ninth-ward/ This summer, a group of students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison plans to travel to New Orleans to help restore an urban wetland in the Lower Ninth Ward, a neighborhood decimated by flooding after the post-Katrina levee failures.

  The group of nine students expect to study Bayou Bienvenue, testing water, surveying vegetation and researching whether the area could be restored with a diversion dam that would help bring in fresh water and sediment. They also plan to talk with neighborhood residents about their concerns and will even host a crab boil to involve the community.

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  ]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/06/05/uw-madison-students-to-restore-bayou-in-new-orleans-lower-ninth-ward/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/06/02/year-three-in-rebuilding-new-orleans-taking-more-green-steps-one-by-one/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/06/02/year-three-in-rebuilding-new-orleans-taking-more-green-steps-one-by-one/#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:58:59 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/06/02/year-three-in-rebuilding-new-orleans-taking-more-green-steps-one-by-one/ The post-Katrina rebuilding effort in New Orleans has a long way to go, but some residents, activists and volunteers are celebrating one small but noteworthy step after another toward a more sustainable city.

  Their efforts take on a special poignancy with the start of yet another hurricane season (it officially began on June 1, though the tropical system Arthur formed a day early around the Yucatan Peninsula). With lingering La Niña conditions and water temperatures in parts of the Gulf of Mexico already a degree or two above average, there’s reason to be concerned.

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  ]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/06/02/year-three-in-rebuilding-new-orleans-taking-more-green-steps-one-by-one/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/13/louisiana-coastal-protection-study-falls-short/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/13/louisiana-coastal-protection-study-falls-short/#comments Tue, 13 May 2008 19:45:37 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/13/louisiana-coastal-protection-study-falls-short/ A new report from the National Research Council (NRC) finds numerous problems with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ followup recommendations for restoring wetlands and protecting southern Louisiana from another Katrina-like disaster.

  Among the most worrisome findings in the paper: the Corps’ failure to “consider the potential for structural failure of levees and floodwalls.”

  “As a consequence,” the NRC report states, “the true risk to homes and businesses and people behind structures has not been determined.”

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  ]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/13/louisiana-coastal-protection-study-falls-short/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/10/2008-atlantic-hurricane-season-predictions/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/10/2008-atlantic-hurricane-season-predictions/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:41:07 +0000 Joshua S Hill http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/10/2008-atlantic-hurricane-season-predictions/ Each year researchers at North Carolina State University predict the oncoming hurricane season. With summer just around the corner for the Northern Hemisphere, their latest report is out, and it’s billing an active year for the Atlantic.

  However, thankfully for those coastal cities on the Atlantic, the number of storms making landfall will stick close to the average.

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  ]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/10/2008-atlantic-hurricane-season-predictions/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/03/defending-wetlands-in-baghdad-on-the-bayou/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/03/defending-wetlands-in-baghdad-on-the-bayou/#comments Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:27:39 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/03/defending-wetlands-in-baghdad-on-the-bayou/ You want music with a message? Then you’ve got to — if you haven’t yet — check out the works of Tab Benoit.

  A Louisianan through and through (born in Baton Rouge, reared in Houma), Benoit is not only a wonderful Southern Cajun/blues musician, but an outspoken and active environmentalist. His primary cause: protecting and restoring the wetlands of the Gulf Coast … something that would not only help native wildlife but the people of coastal Louisiana (and the overall climate) as well.

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  ]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/03/defending-wetlands-in-baghdad-on-the-bayou/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/01/hotels-offer-rebuild-big-easy-special/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/01/hotels-offer-rebuild-big-easy-special/#comments Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:55:53 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/01/hotels-offer-rebuild-big-easy-special/ If you’re like me, you never need an excuse to visit New Orleans, even post-Katrina. Between the food, the music, the architecture, the history and the people, the Big Easy always beckons.

  But here’s a new and nifty reason to plan a Crescent City getaway: the Marriott’s “Care Concierge” vacation package.

  Now through Nov. 15, travelers who book a stay at one of New Orleans’ Marriott or Renaissance hotels will receive email recommendations for local groups that welcome visitor-volunteers who want to help the city rebuild. And $50 of the package rate (ranging from $159 to $259) will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, which is working to return New Orleans’ flood-ravaged neighborhoods to life.

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