How To Stop Freaking Out About Climate Change + Louisiana Tribes File Complaint with the UN

In The News

Louisiana Tribes File Complaint with United Nations over U.S. Inaction on Climate Change 

Four coastal Louisiana tribes and one in Alaska that say the U.S. government violated their human rights by failing to take action on climate change have submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations in Switzerland.

The complaint was filed Wednesday, Jan 15, The Advocate reported.

The complaint states that sea-level rise and coastal erosion are drowning tribal burial sites in South Louisiana. Continued land loss further threatens the tribes’ source of food, said Shirell Parfait-Dardar, Chief of the Grand Caillou and Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians.

“It looks like our community could be gone in 20 years,” she said. “We’re not only losing our homeland. We lose so much more than that. We lose our culture. We lose our identity.”

Read the rest of the story here.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is Accepting Public Comments Until February 7th on the $3.2B, 50 Year Plan to Raise the Levee System 

The East Bank work would include a total of 33 lift projects. Mississippi River levees in St. Bernard Parish, which are believed to already be below the 100-year level for some storm surges traveling upriver, would be included in the lifts. According to USACE, the East Bank levee work would cost $2.6 billion and would reduce surge-related flood damage for those protected by the system to $30 million a year, compared to $230 million a year without the improvements.

The West Bank work would include 37 levee lifts. Sections of the river levees north of a stretch in Plaquemines and Algiers, which was recently elevated to deal with 100-year surge levels, would be included in the lifts. According to USACE, the West Bank work would cost $613 million and would reduce surge-related flood damage for those protected by the system to $8 million, compared to $78 million without the improvements.

Written comments on the two reports will be accepted through Feb. 7. Comments can be mailed to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District; C/O Mr. Bradley Drouant, P.E.; CEMVN-PMO-L, Room 361; 7400 Leake Ave., New Orleans, LA 70118.

They can also be submitted by email to East Bank Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity, CEMVN-LPVGRR@usace.army.mil or West Bank and Vicinity, CEMVN-WBVGRR@usace.army.mil.

Read more about the plans here.

More Water & Climate Headlines

• How to Stop Freaking Out and Tackle Climate Change: a five-step plan to deal with the stress and become part of the solution
• From the BP Spill to a Disappearing Island: A Decade of Photographs Covering Climate and the Environment in Louisiana
• Greenhouse gases released by oil, gas-related industry on the rise in Louisiana and nation
• Marine Labs on the Water’s Edge Are Threatened by Climate Change
• Environmental groups say state is moving too quickly on permits for proposed Plaquemines oil terminal
• The $119 Billion Sea Wall That Could Defend New York … or Not
• Residents hopeful for Mirabeau Water Garden project promises
• What good are all those old Christmas trees really doing for Louisiana’s vanishing coast?
• Climate change is jeopardizing trade along the Mississippi River
• In search of the lost coastal communities of eastern New Orleans
• Trump Rule Would Exclude Climate Change in Infrastructure Planning
• Nine years of research on BP spill, dispersants documents potential human health, mental health effects
• If you want to understand the history of a neighborhood, check its temperature: Racist Housing Practices From The 1930s Linked To Hotter Neighborhoods Today

Funding & Finance

• $2 billion in restoration, levee projects to be put out to bid by Louisiana coastal authority in 2020
• CPRA Releases Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Plan: Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has released a draft version of the agency’s annual spending plan for Fiscal Year 2021, which runs from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. The Integrated Ecosystem Restoration & Hurricane Protection in Coastal Louisiana: Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Plan anticipates investing $958 million in Louisiana’s coast. This is the largest spending plan in the history of the State’s coastal program, including a record $718 million allocated toward construction.
• Apply by January 31: The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program will provide full tuition, employment, employee benefits, fees, books, and room and board each year for up to 4 years to selected students pursuing a bachelor’s degree at one of the 1890 Historically Black Land-Grant Universities. In Louisiana, this includes Southern University. The goal of the program is “to increase the number of minorities studying agriculture, food, natural resource sciences, and the related disciplines”. The program is available to high school seniors entering their freshman year of college, in addition to rising college sophomores and juniors.
• Apply by January 31: The ASFPM Foundation Future Leaders Scholarship will provide up to $20,000 per year for two years to a college student entering their junior year of undergraduate studies or the last two years of a 5-year or dual degree undergraduate program. Along with a demonstration of financial need, the student must plan to work in a profession that directly, or indirectly, supports the field of flood risk management. The funds will pay the recipient’s college or university directly for any tuition costs which exceed any existing financial aid or scholarships, up to $20,000 per year. Funds remaining after tuition payment may be used for other educational expenses, room and board in a college dormitory, or an equivalent stipend if living off campus.
• Apply by January 31: Kresge’s Arts & Culture Program is currently accepting letter-of-intent applications that align with their focus area: Strengthen the Equitable Creative Placemaking Field, with emphasis on “working to advance a field of Creative Placemaking leaders, practices and principles committed to equity and inclusion”.Kresge is also accepting applications that align with their focus area: Increase Creative Capacity to Shape Healthier Neighborhoods, with emphasis on “advancing creative approaches that empower residents to drive change and restore wellness in their neighborhoods”.
• Apply by February 19: The Gulf Research Program’s Early-Career Research Fellowship supports emerging scientific leaders as they take risks on research ideas not yet tested, pursue unique collaborations, and build a network of colleagues who share their interest in improving offshore energy system safety and the well-being of coastal communities and ecosystems. An award of $76,000 is paid to each fellow’s institution in the form of a two-year grant
• Apply by March 4: The Gulf Research Program’s Science Policy Fellowship program helps scientists hone their skills by putting them to practice for the benefit of Gulf Coast communities and ecosystems. Fellows gain first-hand experience as they spend one year on the staff of federal, state, local, or non-governmental environmental, natural resource, oil and gas, and public health agencies in the Gulf of Mexico region. An award of $55,000 to $60,000 will be paid directly to the fellow in monthly disbursements.

Land, Water, and Climate Events

• Save Our Sponge Concert | Join Sweet Crude for a concert that supports the 840-acres of forested wetlands serving as the natural protective storm barrier for the Greater New Orleans area | Thursday, February 6 @  7:30 – 9:45pm | Tickets starting at $30, available online or at the door | More Info
• Cook-Off for the Coast | Local cook teams will battle in a wild game cooking competition featuring Louisiana’s wild bounty – free samples for attendees while supplies last! Music by Soul Creole, kids’ activities, information on how you can support coastal restoration and cash bar by Pirogue’s Whiskey Bayou. This year’s event will benefit the Chandeleur Sound Living Shoreline program, a partnership with Nunez Community College CTE, which builds and installs oyster breakwaters along the northern edge of Comfort Island | Saturday, February 8 @ 11am – 3pm | Docville Farm, 5124 E Saint Bernard Hwy, Violet, Louisiana 70092 | Free | More info
• Arrested Symphony : Art Exhibit | Colombian born, NYC-based, multidisciplinary artist Esperanza Cortés highlights the exploitative practices of global mining industries and illuminates how such practices lead to devastating social conflict. Esperanza draws inspiration from observed parallels in such industrious cultures both in the States and her birth country | Now through February 14 + Reception on Saturday, February 1 @ 6-9pm | Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, 400A Julia St, New Orleans, LA 70130 | Free admission | More Info
• LEEC Environmental Education State Symposium | Organized by the Louisiana Environmental Education Commission, this year’s theme is “Take it Outside! Explore Nature’s Classroom.” The conference will focus on ways to help educators use the outdoors as a teaching platform | March 6 @ 8am – March 7 @ 4pm | Fontainebleau State Park, 62883 Louisiana 1089, Mandeville, LA 70471 | Tickets start at $25 for teachers, Early Bird prices through Feb 14th | Register here
• Lamentations: Art Exhibit | Over the past seven years, Tina Freeman has photographed the wetlands of Louisiana and the glacial landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctica. In Lamentations, Freeman pairs images from these disparate regions in a series of diptychs that function as stories about climate change, ecological balance, and connectedness | Now through March 15 | New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), City Park | Free admission for: Anyone 19 years of age and younger, Louisiana residents on Wednesdays, or New Orleans Library Card Holders any day through their Culture Pass Program | More Info