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A Cooperating Organziation of:
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Lawmakers to get earful about coastal erosion
May 11, 2004
By Mark Schleifstein
Times-Picayune
Representatives of a dozen coastal parishes will meet in Washington today with Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, in an attempt to put a human face on the state's request for coastal restoration money.
Domenici and Barton chair the Senate and House committees on energy and natural resources. They have overseen an unsuccessful effort to draft a comprehensive energy bill that was supposed to funnel millions of dollars in offshore oil revenue to Louisiana to help pay its share of coastal restoration projects.
Last week, Domenici failed to attach much of that language to other legislation that has a better chance of clearing Congress this year, but he has vowed to continue to push such efforts.
Today's meeting was arranged by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who also is a member of the energy committee.
Yarrow Etheredge, director of environmental affairs for New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, said she hopes to explain the increased risk from hurricanes that the city faces as a result of coastal erosion.
"Our safety, vitality and future are dependent on the implementation of the plan being drafted to reduce the effects of subsidence and wetlands destruction," Etheredge said.
She was referring to the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study, which will eventually include projects to rebuild much of the state's coastline at a cost of between $5 billion and $14 billion.
"I'm going to let them know about the 100,000 people in this city who can't get out when a major hurricane hits," she said.
Sidney Coffee, an adviser to Gov. Kathleen Blanco on coastal issues, also is in Washington to participate in those meetings.
"Sen. Domenici already has seen the erosion problem firsthand," said Coffee, referring to a trip the senator made to the coast this year with Landrieu. "But this group is coming in to humanize our request, to give him some real-life examples from the different parishes about how coastal erosion is affecting them."
Coffee is also meeting with other members of Congress about the state's efforts to put between $800 million and $1.4 billion in the pending 2004 Water Resources Development Act to pay for continuation of the coastal study and construction of its first dozen or so restoration projects.
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