Battle For New Orleans

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Heather Shelby, Environmental Defense Fund" <takeaction@edf.org>
Date: Sep 4, 2012 4:07 PM
Subject: Take Action: Protect the Gulf from Hurricane Devastation!
To: <aquarianm@gmail.com>

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Dear Daniel,

Take Action: Protect the Gulf from Hurricane Devastation.

In the wake of the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and as communities recover from Hurricane Isaac, we have a chance to speak up for restoration along the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO).

The MRGO is a federal shipping channel that has impacted over 600,000 acres of coastal habitat surrounding the Greater New Orleans area, completely destroying over 27,000 acres of protective wetlands.

During Hurricane Katrina, the channel acted as a funnel, intensifying storm surge and contributing to the devastating flooding in the historic Lower 9th Ward and other affected areas.

Back in 2007, Congress gave the Army Corps of Engineers six months to come up with a comprehensive restoration plan.

Not only did the Corps delay for four years, but they are now considering taking NO action due to a dispute about who will pay. This restoration cannot wait.

Take Action: Tell the Army Corps to create a restoration plan that mirrors the scale of the damage done to these critical coastal habitats.

Thank you for your activism and support,
HeatherShelbySignature

Heather Shelby
Action Network Coordinator

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Environmental Defense Fund
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Sunday, September 02, 2012

The Things That are the Richest are the Least Valued: New Orleans and Haiti, Post-Catastrophe

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/11271-the-things-that-are-the-richest-are-the-least-valued-new-orleans-and-haiti-post-catastrophe

Monday, April 23, 2012

Hold Big Oil Accountable

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Dan Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Date: Apr 23, 2012 10:53 AM
Subject: Hold Big Oil Accountable
To: "Great Lakes Zephyr" <aquarianm.zephyr@blogger.com>, "York 112 Blog" <aquarianm.112pcyork@blogger.com>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Jill Mastrototaro, Sierra Club" <membership.services@sierraclub.org>
Date: Apr 20, 2012 3:50 PM
Subject: Hold Big Oil Accountable
To: <aquarianm@gmail.com>

View a web version of this email.

Dear Daniel,

Stand Up To Big Oil!

It has been two years to the day since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, nineteen months since the oil stopped gushing into the Gulf, and six months since BP announced their cleanup phase "finished."¹

Now BP and Big Oil are back to business as usual in the Gulf and their sights are set on even riskier drilling projects. Big Oil wants to drill on every coast they can to maintain their record profits. Meanwhile, Gulf communities and coastlines are still suffering from their negligence.

It's time for local communities to take charge.

Tell President Obama: We, the people, should be in control of our coasts, not Big Oil.

After the tragedy began, we learned that BP's disaster response plan which had been approved by regulatory agencies was an error-filled copy-and-paste job riddled with "leftovers" from other plans, including a strategy to protect the Gulf's (non-existent) walrus population.²

The Gulf Coast has now paid the price for a broken system that allows Big Oil to make its own rules. We need to stand up for the Gulf Coast and communities all across the country that are at risk from Big Oil's dangerous and reckless approach to offshore drilling.

Ask President Obama put power back in the people's hands. We need Regional Citizens' Advisory Councils to give locals a powerful say in communities where drilling occurs and we should start with the Gulf Coast.

Community members who live and work along the Gulf Coast understand best the long-lasting impacts of BP's oil and are fighting to hold BP accountable. They should be the ones our "experts" listen to -- people like:

Marylee Orr, a native Louisianan and founder of Louisiana Environmental Action Network, who has been working with communities across the Gulf Coast suffering from the effects of oil exposure;
Phuong Ngyen, a Vietnamese fisherman from Buras, Louisiana, who has been going out for weeks, returning with a catch that will hardly feed his family; or
Rip Kirby, a Florida geologist who is using UV lights to find toxic tar material that is concentrating along Gulf beaches.

Give citizens like Marylee, Phuong, and Rip a voice in protecting their communities and holding BP and Big Oil accountable.

Tell President Obama to create a Regional Citizens' Advisory Council for the Gulf Coast and wherever offshore drilling is happening or proposed.

Thanks for all you do to protect the environment,

Jill Mastrototaro
Gulf Coast Campaign Director
Sierra Club

P.S. After you take action, be sure to forward this alert to your friends and colleagues!

Photo credit: U.S. Coast Guard

[1] BP Press Release. November 9, 2011.
[2] "BP's gulf oil spill response plan lists the walrus as a local species. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is furious," The Christian Science Monitor. June 9, 2010.

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Friday, September 02, 2011