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Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline

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Re: Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline

#21

Post by delinka »

criley2 wrote: post #8
delinka wrote: post #4

"The state has a plan to implement more than 100 restoration and protection projects — like rebuilding marshes and barrier islands..." Sounds like a terrible plan to me. Treating symptoms instead of the disease won't solve the problem. Just because we humans are "determined" doesn't mean fighting nature like this will be successful. I'm sure the locals will feel better about their politicians for a few years and prob…

Actually when you consider the global implications of climate and the local effects of shore, a local area using local money to protect local shore in the face of global inaction they are powerless to change makes perfect sense. It is actually your position which makes no sense. "Hey 4.6 million Louisianans, sure you're only 0.00063% of world population, but protecting yourself and your land from what the other 99.99…

And what about moving industry and residences away from the current coastline over the next 50 years? Make a plan to prevent new real estate development within a certain distance of the current coast; plan the obsolescence of currently developed areas and over time reclaim them for the environment.

Re: Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline

#22

Post by ue_ »

PeterStuer wrote: post #14
spodek wrote: post #3

I've been asking people to name the most effective leaders in the area of global warming. When I say my answer, they look surprised, but then agree: the Koch Brothers and Donald Trump. They are leading people not to change their behavior and this is the result. No one is leading in the direction of reducing consumption with nearly the effectiveness as them. Instead of leading ourselves, the overwhelming majority of A…

Abstinence is the answer that can not exist in a neo-liberal society.

So long as it is not a threat to profits in the forseeable future, the bourgeoisie will not care much about climate change. They will and indeed must continue to advertise and increase consumption, many requiring growing rates of profit due to loaning of capital with high interest rates.

Re: Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline

#23

Post by tajen »

Not to diminish the terrible situation of the victims, but looking at maps and pictures [1], it seems to me like a very unstable land: It dried over time, diving under the average sea level, and it's been kept free of water only by humans' constant work. Didn't we do a mistake here by considering it habitable in the first place? Imagining humans as a single entity, should we have settled there, climate change or not?

[1] http://www.nola.com/katrina/index.ssf/2015/09/hurricane_katr...

Re: Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline

#25

Post by richardwhiuk »

ehnto wrote: post #16
averagewall wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with losing coastline? There's no shortage of land in America or the world in general.

Entire cities will have to be moved as even a few meters of rise can flood an entire region. It is not as if we just lose a bit of beach, if sea levels rise then everything at the new level that can be sought by water through rivers or otherwise will be under water. Not Atlantis style, but no longer habitable by cities as we currently build them. What's more, the coastline going missing is but one symptom. Weather pa…

More so, cities are disproportionately built near the coast line as water access is very valuable for trade and commerce, so relatively little land needs to be lost for a large amount of city real estate to be lost.

Re: Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline

#26

Post by obstinate »

scottlegrand2 wrote: post #9
spodek wrote: post #3

I've been asking people to name the most effective leaders in the area of global warming. When I say my answer, they look surprised, but then agree: the Koch Brothers and Donald Trump. They are leading people not to change their behavior and this is the result. No one is leading in the direction of reducing consumption with nearly the effectiveness as them. Instead of leading ourselves, the overwhelming majority of A…

The members of the creative class who live in the major cities and take mass transit or bike or walk to work have the right idea. Bonus points for working at home or going full Mr. Money Mustache. Unfortunately that's not practical for most people. Also, we overinvest in our highways and cars because there seems to be almost no collective will to build a national transportation network beyond that. And I don't want t…

They (we, I should say, as a city slicker myself) have the right idea, provided we don't wipe out all our annual carbon savings in one go by flying to Thailand for holiday.

Re: Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline

#27

Post by kgwgk »

ehnto wrote: post #16
averagewall wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with losing coastline? There's no shortage of land in America or the world in general.

Entire cities will have to be moved as even a few meters of rise can flood an entire region. It is not as if we just lose a bit of beach, if sea levels rise then everything at the new level that can be sought by water through rivers or otherwise will be under water. Not Atlantis style, but no longer habitable by cities as we currently build them. What's more, the coastline going missing is but one symptom. Weather pa…

A few meters of rise will take a few centuries to materialise.

Re: Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline

#28

Post by erentz »

ryanmarsh wrote: post #20
erentz wrote: post #2

I have real issues with states like this where it's leaders deny climate change and prevent action on it, yet cry when issues like this occur. Similar when the BP oil spill occurred and they cried about the affect on their coast and fishing industries. They seemingly are fine with destroying their environment so long as it occurs over 50 years rather than 5 months.

You think the governor knew the name of the deep water horizon before it caught fire? It was 41 miles off the coast.

I don't get the relevance?

Re: Louisiana’s Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Disappearing Coastline

#29

Post by adolph »

The first two comments seem to associate anthropogenic climate change with the changes in Louisiana's coastline. A more likely culprit is hydrologic mismanagement. The coastline was formed by waterways that periodically changed channels and dumped sediment in different areas. In relatively recent times cities on the existing waterways became politically influential enough for the federal government to build a series of controls to prevent waterway changes that would otherwise distribute silt more evenly along the coastline.

Given the long-running chronic nature of the coastline change, I'm surprised this is being raised as an "emergency." Given that the principal cities of government and commerce in Louisiana would likely be extremely negatively affected by an honest root cause analysis (without the Mississippian waters, they won't work so well as ports), I'd bet the powers that be will play up climate change and ask for lots of money to be pointlessly dumped in the gulf.

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