By Julie Dermansky Louisiana is ground zero for the devastating impacts of climate change. Even though the state is already feeling the costly impacts to life and property due to extreme weather and an eroding coastline linked to a warming planet, its government continues to ignore the primary cause—human use of fossil fuels. The impacts […]
Last week, a pipe owned by offshore oil and gas operator LLOG Exploration Company, LLC spilled up to 393,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, reminding many observers of the Deepwater Horizon explosion seven years ago that spewed approximately 210 million gallons of crude into familiar territory. Now, a report from Bloomberg suggests […]
An oil rig exploded on Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana Sunday night, injuring seven crew members, with an eighth believed to be missing, authorities said. The explosion was reported at 7:18 p.m. near St. Charles Parish and the city of Kenner. The platform, located in unincorporated Jefferson Parish, is owned by New Orleans-based Clovelly Oil Company. Chief […]
Thirteen Louisiana residents who live in the shadow of one of the most toxic factories in the country recently filed a lawsuit against the facility’s co-owners, DuPont and Denka, in an attempt to stop or reduce the production of an air pollutant linked to serious health problems, including cancer. The plaintiffs are currently seeking approval […]
By Matt Smith The next big pipeline battle is shaping up in the marshes of southwestern Louisiana. The standoff at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) has energized activists in Louisiana, who are trying to keep another crude conduit out of wetlands that Louisianans have fought to restore for decades. […]
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency Wednesday for coastal Louisiana to highlight the state’s need for more federal funding to address extreme weather events. “We are in a race against time to save our coast, and it is time we make bold decisions,” Edwards said. “The Louisiana coast is in a […]
Madison, Wisconsin and Abita Springs, Louisiana are transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy following respective city council votes on Tuesday. Madison and Abita Springs are the first cities in Wisconsin and Louisiana to make this commitment. They join 23 other cities across the United States—from large ones like San Diego, California and Salt Lake City, […]
Louisiana—which faces faster levels of sea-level rise than any other land on Earth—could lose as many as 2,800 square miles of its coast over the next 40 years and about 27,000 buildings will need to be flood-proofed, elevated or bought out, the New Orleans Advocate reported. https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/456559366557016065 These dire predictions were pulled from a new […]
Climate change made last month’s historic deluge in Louisiana at least 40 percent more likely, a rapid attribution assessment by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found. Coast Guardsmen use a flat-bottom boat to assist residents during severe flooding around Baton Rouge on Aug. 14. U.S. Department of Agriculture / Flickr Parts of Louisiana […]