Latest Mississippi River Delta news: Aug. 30, 2013

Lawyers v drillers
By The Economist. Aug. 31, 2013.
“Over the past century Louisiana has lost nearly 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands, an area the size of Delaware. This not only leaves the state denuded—with less than 75% of the wetlands it used to have—but also makes New Orleans, its biggest city, more vulnerable to hurricanes…” (read more).

BP: Jindal administration ‘misrepresents’ company’s record regarding 2010 oil spill
By Chevel Johnson, The Associated Press. Aug. 29, 2013.
“NEW ORLEANS — BP PLC says Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration has misrepresented its record in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, including how much it has spent on cleanup…” (read more).

BP answers Jindal criticism
By Michelle Millhollon, The Advocate (Baton Rouge). Aug. 30, 2013.
“A day after Gov. Bobby Jindal accused BP of splashing out more on advertising than coastal restoration, the company fired back…” (read more).

BP accuses Louisiana leaders of ‘political grandstanding’ over oil spill
By Terry Macalister, The Guardian (London). Aug. 30, 2013.
“BP and one of the US Gulf states most affected by pollution from the Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010 have become embroiled in an acrimonious slanging match over the oil company’s cleanup record…” (read more).

BP slams Louisiana amid oil spill recriminations
By Ed Crooks, The Financial Times. Aug. 30, 2013.
“BP has made an outspoken verbal attack on the governor and other officials of the state of Louisiana over their recent comments about the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and has been met by an equally stinging response from the state…” (read more).

Our Views: Katrina, eight years out
By The Advocate (Baton Rouge). Aug. 30, 2013.
“Today’s eighth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s arrival in Louisiana is an occasion to remember, in a special way, the most-costly natural disaster in American history…” (read more).

Gulf Restoration Plan Is Step Forward for Recovery, but More Work Remains
By Andreas Merkl, National Geographic’s News Watch. Aug. 29, 2013.
“If we hope to meet the future resource demands of a growing global population without destroying the natural systems that sustain us, we must put the ocean at the center of what we do. The ocean provides us with food, energy, transportation, carbon storage and more—it is truly our greatest natural resource…” (read more).

Council unanimously OKs restoration plan
By Annie Snider, Energy & Environment. Aug. 29, 2013.
“The federal-state panel tasked with overseeing the spending of potentially billions of dollars in fines related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill yesterday unanimously approved its initial plan for restoring the Gulf ecosystem and economy…” (read more).

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s statements on BP are ‘campaign of lies,’ company says
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). Aug. 29, 2013.
“Gov. Bobby Jindal and his coastal adviser, Garret Graves, are conducting a “campaign of lies” against BP that misrepresents the company’s record in cleaning oil from Louisiana’s coastline and restoring both the environment and individuals harmed by its 2010 oil spill, a senior BP official said Thursday…” (read more).

Thick carpets of grass lead to grand optimism as teal season approaches
By Todd Masson, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). Aug. 29, 2013.
“Why hurricane forecasters even bother putting out their annual predictions is a mystery. What’s even more absurd is that we pay any attention to them…” (read more).

Appeals court withdraws insurance ruling that favored BP in Gulf spill case
By Harry Weber, FuelFix (Houston). Aug. 29, 2013.
“A federal appeals court Thursday withdrew a previous decision allowing British oil giant BP to tap insurance policies held by Swiss drilling contractor Transocean to help cover damages from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill…” (read more).

BP, Louisiana Officials at Odds over Restoring Coastline
By Robin Dupre, Rigzone Staff. Aug. 29, 2013.
“The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council held a meeting Wednesday discussing the current status of coastal restoration projects, which are being funded by civil penalties in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon incident…” (read more).

BP fires back at Jindal for comments
By David Hammer, WWL-TV (New Orleans). Aug. 29, 2013.
“BP fired back Thursday evening at Gov. Bobby Jindal for a speech he gave Wednesday, saying Jindal and his coastal restoration chief’s statements “seem purposefully intended to mislead the public” about how much the oil giant has spent to fix damage to Louisiana’s oiled coastline…” (read more).

8 years after Katrina, New Orleans called “the comeback city”
By Dave Cohen, WWL-AM. Aug. 29, 2013.
“Eight years ago today Hurricane Katrina was making landfall with an immense storm surge, high winds and torrential rainfall…” (read more).

Bobby Jindal: Katrina brought us to our knees but didn’t shake our resolve
By Lauren McGaughy, The Times Picayune (New Orleans). Aug. 29, 2013.
“Gov. Bobby Jindal issued this statement on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013, the 8th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall in Louisiana:…” (read more).