Katrina: Disaster Long in the Making

Reminding us of the year anniversary of Katrina, the recent issue of U.S. News and World Report, features the article "Disaster Long in the Making: how man distorted the delicate dance between the delta and the sea." From years of development, it reveals that the delta is "now a strange hybrid of the man-made and the natural. ...None of this construction destroyed the ancient relationship between the delta and the sea-it just distorted it."

Environmental groups give the U.S. government low marks in its efforts to restore the wetlands, making Louisiana still a "sitting duck." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers however has released its "12 Actions for Change," "a set of actions that the Corps will focus on to transform its priorities, processes and planning," due to Katrina's sobering wakeup call. See the Whitehouse's August 24 Press Briefing on Gulf Coast Rebuilding and the Army's news release on the Preliminary Technical Report on Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration to Congress.

Feedlots Contributing to Climate Change

In the effort to reduce all types of emission contributing to climate change, one that Oklahoma might consider is that of animal feeding operations (AFOs). The EPA has just gotten approval to take the next important step to gather air emissions data from agricultural animal feeding operations and to ensure compliance with environmental laws. See the EPA press release from August 22. For more information, see the EPA's page on animal feeding operations air agreements.