A critical thread for #Louisiana!🧵
@LouisianaHouse @louisianasenate @LaDemos @LouisianaLtGov @LAGOP
The Environmental Impact Statement for the massive Mid-Barataria Mississippi River Diversion project reveals devastating truths -
The project will be the final curtain call for one of the largest dolphin populations in the United States. Already reeling from the BP oil spill, the population of over 2000 mammals will be mercilessly driven to functional extinction from the polluted MS River water.
Furthermore, it spells certain doom for Louisiana’s shrimp & oyster industries, leaving coastal communities and the tourism/restaurant economies that depend on them completely destitute.
The project will only produce ~1% additional wetlands in the Barataria Basin which will do nothing to add additional hurricane storm surge protection. In addition, it will actually CAUSE land loss to some of our critical storm surge buffer marsh (about 1/4 of what it will create)
Louisiana’s own Parish Govt’s, the City of Grand Isle and other gov’t entities-including the State boards responsible for advising the government on our natural resources- have officially begged the CPRA and Legislature not to move forward with these projects for almost a decade.
Over the last 10 yrs, despite objections, the CPRA continued its strong-arm tactics to push the project, including squashing legislation to protect seafood resources & at one point even threatening to withhold crucial storm funding from Plaquemines Parish if they kept objecting.
Even LA’s own Lt. Governor in charge of culture & tourism tries desperately to get the public engaged to help stop this economic & environmental disaster.
If you’re a State Legislator, if you think this can’t happen in your district, you’re sadly mistaken if you don’t stand up.
Through years of testifying before the committees, the CPRA continued to push the false narrative that if Legislators objected to the projects in the Master & Annual Plans, that all coastal work would be halted. It simply isn’t true.
We have 3 chances left for Legislators to step up, provide oversight, and prevent this waste that is now estimated at $3 BILLION of precious, limited coastal money (up from ~$1 Billion when it started):
The House Natural Resources & Transportation committees & the House Floor.
If you want to protect our coastal communities & economy (the point, right?) and save our seafood-based culture, PLEASE get engaged & email your State Representatives & State Senators, & the 2 committees the plan is rapidly approaching:
H-natr@legis.la.gov
H-thpw@legis.la.gov
@JeanPaulCoussan Chairman, House Natural Resources
@WrightLouisiana Chairman, House Transportation
@SchexnayderClay Speaker of the House
@TannerDMagee House Speaker Pro Tempore
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