16 December 2010

Louisiana, They're Trying to Wash Us Away

Now the Feds have waded in on Jindal sand castles:
http://www.fox8live.com/news/local/story/Oil-blocking-sand-berms-called-a-waste-of-money/ClIpRwPXIEW1_uysLt6MzQ.cspx

BP allotted $390 million for Bobby's little toy berms, and he has spent nearly $200 million so far. No one, excepting the home-schooled Jindal posse, think the berms will have any positive effect on the wetlands. Most are expected to disappear because of wave action. But why spend $200 million on castles in the sand when it could have been spent on rebuilding the wetlands--you know, filling in canals and planting oyster grass and cypress trees?
The answer is simple. Jindal wants to show the country that he is an effective leader: he slashed the LA budget (never mind that he cut mental health services and public clinics or that he devastated public education and screwed public transportation -- the light rail train from N.O. to Red Stick -- and he saved the wetlands from the black curse of BP's oil spill by building useless berms.
And guess where that sand for the berms came from: it was dredged up from the coastal waterways, which killed massive numbers of bottom-dwelling creatures and altered water flows and currents. Bravo!
Did I mention that money could be better spent restoring the wetlands? But there is no photo opts in doing the right thing.

No comments:

Post a Comment