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In this episode of Ellevate's Engage Videocast we explore the state of Louisiana's coastline and its restoration. Julie Stokes speaks with Chip Kline, Chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) Board and the Director of Coastal Activities for the State of Louisiana. Julie and Chip discuss Louisiana's land loss, CPRA's master plan, upcoming projects and more!
Simone and Jacques close out 2020 with their 150th episode of Delta Dispatches, welcoming Greg Grandy, Deputy Executive Director for Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Greg highlights the immense progress that the agency made on implementing coastal restoration and protection projects in 2020, despite obstacles ranging from the Covid pandemic to an extremely active, unprecedented hurricane season. CPRA advanced 112 coastal projects with 49 projects in construction in 2020, and Greg also highlights what's to come in 2021. Jacques then welcomes Marissa Wendte and James Karst from the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana on to highlight progress on the coalition's oyster shell recycling program, a new virtual store, next year's virtual State of the Coast and their annual Shell-A-Bration!
Simone and Jacques close out 2020 with their 150th episode of Delta Dispatches, welcoming Greg Grandy, Deputy Executive Director for Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Greg highlights the immense progress that the agency made on implementing coastal restoration and protection projects in 2020 (https://coastal.la.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/In-Review.pdf), despite obstacles ranging from the Covid pandemic to an extremely active, unprecedented hurricane season. CPRA advanced 112 coastal projects with 49 projects in construction in 2020, and Greg also highlights what's to come in 2021. Jacques then welcomes Marissa Wendte and James Karst from the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana on to highlight progress on the coalition's oyster shell recycling program, a new virtual store (https://coalition-to-restore-coastal-louisiana.myshopify.com/), next year's virtual State of the Coast and their annual Shell-A-Bration!
Rudy Simoneaux is a civil engineer who works for Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Today we talk about why he chose engineering, about how they engineer coastal restoration projects, about the upcoming Mississippi River sediment diversions, and about the Lower Mississippi River Model! Enjoy! - - You can find Rachel Villani on Twitter @flyingcypress https://twitter.com/flyingcypress and Storytellers of STEMM on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/storytellersofSTEMM/ for more info! You can find Rudy Simoneaux on Twitter at @rudysiii, and by email at Rudy.Simoneaux@la.gov. Recorded on 28 August 2020.
On the first episode of 2020, Simone and Jacques speak with Brad Barth, Operations Assistant Administrator for the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Brad talks about one of Louisiana’s cornerstone restoration projects: the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. The CPRA recently completed modeling that showed this project protecting 47 square miles of land over 50 years.
Thanks for listening to the latest episode of Delta Dispatches. On the first episode of 2020, Simone and Jacques speak with Brad Barth, Operations Assistant Administrator for the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). Brad talks about one of Louisiana’s cornerstone restoration projects: the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. The CPRA recently completed modeling that showed this project protecting 47 square miles of land over 50 years.
On this special year-in-review episode of Delta Dispatches, Jacques and Simone look back at a busy year for coastal restoration in Louisiana. They’re joined by friends and guests from the past year starting with Chip Kline, chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), Lauren Averill, Jefferson Parish Coastal Zone Director, and ASPBA Central Gulf Coast Board member and Kristin Tracz, Program Officer with the Walton Family Foundation.
In this episode of the Delta Dispatches, host Simone Maloz sits down with several guests from the EVERLAB conference in New Orleans. EVERLAB brings together corporate leaders, financial services professionals, governmental officials, and economic development and environmental practitioners to discuss environmental finance, investment, and risk management. Simone welcomes Michael Hecht, President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., Chip Kline, Chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), and Steve Cochran, Associate VP of Coastal Resilience with the Environmental Defense Fund. It's a powerful show.
Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Delta Dispatches! In this special episode of the show, host Simone Maloz sat down with a series of guests from the EVERLAB conference. EVERLAB, which took place in New Orleans earlier this month, was a place for conversation around environmental finance, investment, risk management, and economic growth. Simone spoke with several attendees at the conference and in this episode you'll hear interviews with Michael Hecht, president & CEO of Greater New Orleans,. Inc., Chip Kline, chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) board, and Steve Cochran, associate vice president of coastal resilience with the Environmental Defense Fund.
Welcome to Delta Dispatches with hosts, Jacques Hebert and Simone Maloz. On today’s show, Kristi Trail of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation talks to Jacques and Simone about the unprecedented opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway for the third time in four years. Chip Kline, chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) also stops by to talk about the Bonnet Carré opening is an opportunity for people to pay attention to what we’re trying to do in the Master Plan. Finally, Alisha Renfro, National Wildlife Federation, closes the show with a bigger picture conversation about the high water event in the Mississippi River and what to expect next.
Welcome to Delta Dispatches with hosts, Jacques Hebert and Simone Maloz. On today’s show, Kristi Trail of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation talks to Jacques and Simone about the unprecedented opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway for the third time in four years. Chip Kline, chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) also stops by to talk about the Bonnet Carré opening is an opportunity for people to pay attention to what we’re trying to do in the Master Plan. Finally, Alisha Renfro, National Wildlife Federation, closes the show with a bigger picture conversation about the high water event in the Mississippi River and what to expect next.
Welcome to Delta Dispatches with hosts, Jacques Hebert & Simone Maloz. Today's first guest is is Bren Haase, executive director of Coastal Progress & Lost Lake at the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). To kickoff the show, Bren looks back at the CPRA's successes in 2018 such as Whiskey Island, Lost Lake, and Center for River Studies. Next, we look ahead to what's next for coastal restoration in 2019. To end the show, Simone and Jacques bring on Kenny Bahlinger, a project manager with CPRA. After talking about Kenny’s role with CPRA, the hosts ask Kenny about the Lost Lake Project and more!
"Tropical Storm Cindy was a tiny storm that had an outsized impact on south Louisiana. Coastal flooding cut off LA 1 and extended westward to Cameron Parish. Again, this was only a tropical storm. Not a hurricane. Cindy revealed our extreme vulnerability. Flooding in south Iberia Parish has revived calls for a levee to keep some storm surge out of some communities in that parish. A similar proposal was defeated four years ago. There is more of this to come in our future — all across south Louisiana. It's because of climate change. The atmosphere is continuing to warm up, driven primarily by the the burning of fossil fuels which create the greenhouse gases that drive the process. The floods of August 2016 had all the earmarks of being powered by climate change. The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has just implemented its third Coastal Master Plan. Like its 2012 predecessor, the 2017 plan is an amalgam of projects and approaches to restore wetlands, protect people and property. Like the 2012 plan, it carries a $50 Billion price tag. We know that this is a low-ball estimate. And, oh, by the way, we don't have the money to cover even half of the low-ball estimate. One path to getting some of that money leads to the federal government. Good luck with that. The Trump administration (like the Obama administration before it) has proposed cutting off Louisiana's access to GOMESA money which is a new stream of offshore oil and gas royalty money that CPRA leaders include in the $19 Billion in revenue they thought they could count on as part of the minimum $50 Billion needed to implement some significant portion of the Master Plan. That leaves the oil and gas industry. The industry is responsible for some significant portion of the wetlands loss Louisiana has experienced over the past 70 years. Studies in which the industry participated have found that industry activities — particularly the dredging of access canals for drilling locations and trenching through wetlands for pipelines — contributed between 30 and 70 percent of wetlands loss in particular areas, depending on the amount of oil and gas activity and the topography of the area. Six parishes have filed Coastal Zone law suits against oil and gas companies under the powers given them by the Coastal Zone Management Act. There are 20 parishes included in Louisiana's Coastal Zone. Governor John Bel Edwards wants all of them to join the state in suits against the industry as part of a strategy of bringing them to the negotiating table. The industry has a legal, ethical and moral responsibility to help pay for the damage their activities have caused to our wetlands. The profits they have extracted from Louisiana have made them rich but their activities are setting us up for disaster. Climate change — rising seas, sinking land, higher humidity, stronger storms — threatens the future of everyone living in south Louisiana. The core business of the oil and gas industry is fueling climate change. Climate science indicates that relative sea level rise in Louisiana (the combination of rising seas and sinking land) could be as much as six feet within the next half century. Sea level rise of that magnitude will force many of us to abandon our homes, businesses, and communities. For people like us — people who are deeply attached and connected to place — this will be a traumatic event. We might be able to avoid it, but only if we are willing to confront climate change — the existential threat to south Louisiana."