Over the past decade, Louisiana’s coastal protection program has been hailed as one of the best in the nation, after the devastation from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita prompted the state to strengthen coastlines, repair levees and protect natural habitats.
But now environmentalists and experts say the state’s new Republican governor is undermining its Coastal Protection Agency — the state’s first and strongest line of defense against climate change-induced sea level rise. In an open letter published this week and signed by more than 200 business leaders, environmentalists and other experts, several groups warned against the government. Jeff Landry‘s plans to transform the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
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“The future of our state is at stake,” the letter said.
Environmentalists say the new governor’s actions could hobble the agency just when its work is needed most. These moves come as other right-wing states are also cutting back on climate targets and even references to climate change. This month, the governor of Florida. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill that removes most mentions of climate change from state law. DeSantis is also poised to wipe out the state’s 100 percent renewable energy goals by 2050.
Since 2005, when Louisiana was devastated by two hurricanes, the Coastal Restoration Agency has built or renovated more than 300 miles of levees that hold back floodwaters and restored dozens of miles of barrier islands that can absorb the pressure of waves and rising seas. The agency is working to strengthen these defenses in the face of future stronger storms and higher seas.
Its work is critical, experts say: Louisiana is losing its coastline at a dramatic rate. Over the past century, the state has lost more than 3,000 square kilometers of land; it could lose another 2,000 in the next 50 years, scientists predict. As sea level rise has accelerated, so has land loss. In many parts of the state, wetlands are “drowning” as sea levels rise faster than they can grow. Scientists say the state could lose up to 75 percent of its natural buffer against hurricanes and storms in the coming decades.
Landry, who took office in January, fired six members of the coastal restoration agency’s board and proposed moving it into another, larger department. In a memo, the governor said such steps could help avoid “siloed” government operations and improve efficiency.
Environmental groups, on the other hand, say the uproar is undermining the work of a vital organization. The leadership and structural change could distract the agency from its coastline plan, delay vital projects that could prevent flooding and allow politics to creep into the science-based agency’s work, experts and environmentalists say.
“It seems like it’s chaotic at a time when we don’t need that kind of chaos,” said Rebecca Triche, executive director of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation and one of the signatories of the letter.
Triche said some of the experts brought in from the board could have helped provide needed perspectives on the state’s coastal plans. The board consists of some political appointments and some publicly elected government officials. “It just seems like independent voices are being removed,” she said.
Landry’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Environmentalists are also concerned about the new governor’s stance on a project to divert part of the Mississippi River, which scientists say is critical to coastal wetland restoration. The region, known as Middle Barataria, is sinking faster than 75 percent of all other wetlands in the state. The project would help bring new sediment to the area and, ideally, prevent further land loss.
The project, organized by the Coastal Restoration Agency, has been in the works for more than a decade. It is facing a lawsuit from Plaquemines Parish, where locals worry the incoming fresh water could impact fishing. Experts say the state no longer appears to be actively fighting the lawsuit — and as a result has suspended the project.
“Over the last three administrations, they really haven’t played politics” with the coastal restoration agency, said Christopher Dalbom, a senior research fellow at Tulane University. “They tried very hard to keep it as a science-based effort.” But the lack of progress on the project, he added, seems to tell a new story. “It seems like politics is being played with it now.”
At a Senate hearing earlier this month, the agency said that if the project is halted, nearly $1 billion could be lost.
Many experts worry about undermining an agency that has become a hallmark of the state’s fight against climate change and rising sea levels.
“Compared to other states, we have one of the best and deepest coastal restoration authorities in the country,” Dalbom said. “There is a real power in it that should not simply be wasted.”
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