$40B La. Protection Plan Sparks Debate

WASHINGTON - A $40 billion plan to hurricane-proof the Louisiana coast has ignited a battle over how best to prevent a repeat of this year's double flooding of New Orleans.

Endorsed by the state's congressional delegation, the proposal would create a nine-member independent commission that would give Louisiana a large say in how the federal money is spent.

The huge sums involved and the measure's plan to waive federal environmental laws underscore the dramatic steps that Louisiana lawmakers say is needed to help the state recover from one of the country's worst natural disasters.

The commission — with at least five members from Louisiana — would have final say over Army Corps of Engineers projects to protect New Orleans from the most potent type of hurricanes, known as Category 5, and to restore the coastline, control flooding and improve navigation.

Normal congressional processes for authorizing projects and spending money would be bypassed entirely under the proposal. Environmental laws would be waived once the commission signs off on the work plan, which the corps would have to develop in just six months.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051002/ap_on_re_us/katrina_hurricane_protection

Isn't the whole point that they were IGNORING the needs of the environment?

we need the levees now not 50 yrs from now

The environmental impact will be much longer than 50 years, especially if extinction of species occurs.

It was rush jobs like this that got the Army Corps of Engineers to build ill-considered levees on the Mississippi that have lead to worse flooding than the problem they were designed to fix.

Rush jobs like this are a great way for fat cats to skim off huge amounts of corruption.

Don't rush, do it right.

I see a boondoggle brewing.. There will proabably be many years of smaller hurricanes or misses, and things will once again be built up in harm's way..

:(

not in favor of eliminating all environmental checks and balances, something has to be done.

A full impact study, approval, and ensuing litigation could easily take 10+ years, which is neither pratical nor a good use of the time.

In addition to the above, there is one very easy (and agreed upon) fix, which is to rebuild/reclaim the wetlands along the mouth of the Mississippi. For each mile of wetlands, approximately 1 foot of flood surge is supressed.

This won't fix fix the entire problem, but its a good start and not controversial (other than cost).