Bayou sinkhole: “This could go on for years”
After exactly 200 days out of their homes, the beleaguered residents of Bayou Corne finally got a hearing in Baton Rouge this week. They were also told of growing uncertainty about when the crisis in...
View ArticleStop the bass-ackwards plan for New Orleans tourism
There's an old saying that he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. Well, here in New Orleans, the tourism industry is a double-edged sword. Ever since the first oil-and-gas crash of the 1980s and...
View ArticleJindal to embrace stealth tax hike?
Governor Bobby Jindal is said to have lost his “mojo” this legislative sessions. His plan to repeal the state income tax failed before it got started. His education reforms are on life-support due to...
View ArticleAn arguably unconstitutional tax hike races toward Jindal’s desk
Earlier this month I told you about the ill-conceived plan racing its way through Baton Rouge to impose a new tax on tourists visiting New Orleans and to use the money not to address the burning...
View ArticleHow far will Jindal go to prove his tax isn’t really a tax
As feared -- but predicted -- the tax on New Orleans hotel guests is headed to the desk of Gov. Bobby Jindal. It's hard to imagine that Jindal -- who harbors dreams of riding all the way to the White...
View ArticleSinkhole grows and threatens Bayou Corne
Last weekend Bonny Schumaker from On Wings of Care -- a tireless advocate who's been our not-so-secret weapon in the war for salvation of the ecology of the Gulf Coast -- went up in the skies over...
View ArticleHypocritical Jindal raises taxes on New Orleans tourists
It's not really breaking news at this point that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is a hypocrite. Not just in the environmental laws that his agencies consistently fail to enforce, but in his other policies...
View ArticleStop the polluters from taking back Louisiana
The next two years will be more critical for Louisiana and its beautiful yet fragile environment than any time in the state's history. On one hand, the surge in oil and gas production across the United...
View ArticleWhy Big Oil’s assault on Baton Rouge must be stopped
The other day I told you that Big Oil -- alarmed in Louisiana about the citizenry finally fighting back after decades of environmental abuse, and uncertain about their political prospects past 2015 --...
View ArticleSaving the wetlands: The empire strikes back
In the last week, there's been a lot of discussion about the 4th anniversary of the BP oil spill -- and how Louisiana's critical wetlands had been pummeled and degraded by an onslaught of crude. These...
View ArticleLouisiana awaits 2015 to undo the damage caused by Big Oil
Sometimes it's a struggle to find the kernel of good news amid the morass that is our corrupted political system, especially in my home state of Louisiana. Earlier this year, I told you about the big...
View ArticleSomething’s happening in South Louisiana, and the “Dirty Dozen” doesn’t get it
Every day, there's more evidence that the healthy winds of change are blowing through Louisiana. That's especially true in the southern part of the state which has been battered by events that have...
View ArticleBobby Jindal’s folly
This weekend, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal had a clear choice. He could follow the advice of the state's attorney general -- his fellow Republican Buddy Caldwell -- and many other legal scholars. That...
View ArticleAll in the family: Does Jindal have a conflict of interest on BP legislation?
It's not surprising that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has served as a handmaiden for the oil-and-gas industry during his six-and-a-half years in Baton Rouge. For one thing, it's in keeping with the...
View ArticleHow Big Oil staged a coup in Baton Rouge
This weekend, the New York Times Magazine ran a lengthy -- and rather remarkable -- look at what happened when a New Orleans levee board decided to take seriously its mission of restoring the Louisiana...
View ArticleLouisiana’s Green Army declares war on polluters
For time to time, I've kept readers here up to date on Gen. Russel Honore -- the retired military leader who provided strong, much-needed leadership in Louisiana's dark days after Hurricane Katrina --...
View ArticleLouisiana can’t afford to do nothing about its shrinking wetlands
Restoring wetlands is certainly an expensive proposition. Even with monies available from sources such as the massive settlement that BP reached with Louisiana, the federal government and other Gulf...
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