Latest news: June 22, 2012

More than the Restore Act: An editorial
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). June 22, 2012.
“Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says that President Barack Obama is firm in his commitment to use a large share of fines from the BP oil spill to restore Louisiana’s coast, and that’s certainly reassuring…” (Read more)

Landry move would bring La. more revenue
By Jordan Blum, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.). June 22, 2012.
“WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, successfully added an amendment Thursday to a House energy bill that would eventually direct more offshore drilling revenue to Louisiana…” (Read more)

Levee agreement helps clear path for flood insurance reauthorization
Delta Farm Press. June 21. 2012.
“Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran, Louisiana Senators David Vitter and Mary Landrieu, and Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison have announced an agreement on the treatment of levees under the National Flood Insurance Program that they hope will allow the Senate to move closer to passage of long-term legislation to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)…” (Read more)

Coastal-zone changes affect construction
By Nikki Buskey, Houma Today (Houma, La.). June 21, 2012.
“Parish officials, real-estate developers and architects gathered at Nicholls State University Wednesday to learn about permitting changes for new construction projects that could be required under the state’s expanded Louisiana’s coastal zone…” (Read more)

Prepare for higher seas, report says
By Xerxes A. Wilson, The Daily Comet (Lafourceh Parish, La.). June 21, 2012.
“A new report by LSU scientists warns that Gulf Coast residents must prepare for higher seas and accompanying effects such as as stronger hurricanes, further wetlands erosion and saltwater intrusion…” (Read more)

Blooming horrible: Nutrient pollution is a growing problem all along the Mississippi
The Economist. June 23, 2012.
“SOUTH-EAST of New Orleans, where the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico, the North American land mass does not end so much as gently give up. Land subsides to welts of green poking up through the water, and the river grows wider and flatter until it meets the ocean, where a solid line divides the Mississippi’s brown water from the gulf’s blue…” (Read more)

Storm system in southern Gulf has 70 percent chance of becoming tropical cyclone in next 48 hours
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). June 21, 2012.
“A large low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico just north of the Yucatan Peninsula has a 70 percent chance of forming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours as it moves slowly northward into the central Gulf of Mexico, according to forecasters with the National Hurricane Center…” (Read more)