Louisiana Forward

Selling Off our Airport

2009-10-10T07:43:00.008-05:00

photo FAA Approves the Change

New Orleans Armstrong International has received federal approval for its preliminary application to become a private airport, a move that could bring the city a sudden cash windfall but strip it of its oversight and operational rights.

Vitter Blocks EPA to Protect Formaldehyde

2009-10-07T07:38:00.000-05:00

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Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is blocking an EPA nomination because he wants the agency to delay establishing safety procedures for formaldehyde. Meanwhile, major emitters of the dangerous chemical have been generous contributors to the senator's reelection campaign.

Shearer: Obama's Plate Not Too Full

2009-09-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

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So this morning comes the news that President Obama will make a "surprise" trip to Copenhagen, along with his wife, to make a presentation on behalf of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics. Aside from the possible malice he's showing towards his home town -- here come massive deficits, white-elephant signature buildings, and other perks -- I found this story interesting as the ultimate rebuke to the months of comments from people here regarding the Obama administration's torpor when it comes to remedying the aftermath of the failure of the federal levees in New Orleans. "Give him time," they said, "he's got a lot on his plate".

Woman Defies Credit Card & Wins!

2009-09-25T07:21:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago, Ann Minch of Red Bluff, Calif. announced in a YouTube video that she'd launched a one-woman "Debtors' Revolt" and would refuse to pay off her credit card balance after an unfair interest-rate hike. Now, after her video made a huge splash, Bank of America has agreed to reduce her rate.

Read more at Huffington Post (here, too).

Foreclosure? Produce the Note!

2009-09-25T07:09:00.000-05:00

photo The Demand Can Prevent Foreclosure

Modern-day home mortgages have been so sliced and diced by rapacious financiers that some homeowners are successfully delaying -- or even blocking -- foreclosures through the simple tactic of demanding that banks produce the original mortgage note, which amazingly enough is often not so easy for them to do.
As the foreclosure rate continues to set new highs, a little-noticed legal provision that requires bankers, if challenged, to prove they hold the original mortgage documents before getting possession has spawned a minor homeowner rebellion, alternately called "produce the note" or "show me the note". For homeowners trying desperately to keep their homes, the tactic is one way to buy some time -- and maybe even get the upper hand on the lender.

Read the rest at Huffington Post.

News Flash (?): OPP Inhumane

2009-09-25T06:58:00.000-05:00

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Violent guards, understaffing and unsanitary conditions violate the constitutional rights of inmates at a New Orleans jail heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina, a Justice Department report concludes. A report on the department's investigation, released Monday and dated Sept. 11, said that Orleans Parish Prison doesn't adequately protect inmates from excessive force by staff and physical harm from other inmates.

Read the rest at Huffinton Post.

ULL Builds Green Home

2009-09-25T06:47:00.001-05:00

photo Competing Nationally

It was quite a house warming party. A band played.
Champagne bottles popped.
It was the culmination of two years’ work by more than 200 University of Louisiana at Lafayette students, faculty members and Acadiana residents to build BeauSoleil, an 800-square-foot, solar-powered home that will represent the university on the National Mall next month.

Read the rest at The Advocate.

Louisiana Coast Fastest-Disappearing Land Mass on Earth

2009-09-24T07:04:00.000-05:00

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Over the last four years, 340 square miles of wetlands around New Orleans have vanished, causing biologists to call the wetlands around the city the fastest disappearing land mass on the planet. 220 of those square miles have been lost due to hurricanes Rita and Katrina. The rest has been a victim to erosion caused by man. It's now thought that if the wetlands had been better protected before Katrina had hit, the damage wouldn't have been nearly as severe--and that those same vanishing wetlands are preventing New Orleans from rebounding from Katrina. Here's why.

Read more at Treehugger.com.

The Whole Picture in Louisiana, Disparities and All

2009-09-24T06:51:00.000-05:00

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Mississippi and Louisiana four years ago, extreme weather and acute human vulnerability met head-on with tragic results. Long-standing gaps in the well-being of different groups of Gulf coast residents were suddenly everywhere in evidence - on rooftops, on I-10 overpasses, and on TV screens across the country. Many were stunned by what they saw. They should not have been. The problems of social exclusion, residential segregation, and human poverty that Katrina brought to light hide in plain sight in every U.S. state.

A new study titled A Portrait of Louisiana released yesterday in Baton Rouge and supported by Oxfam America and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, uses post-Katrina data to examine disparities by parish, race, and gender in Louisiana, and shows that pronounced social and economic gaps left African Americans particularly vulnerable during the disaster and in its aftermath. Although improved disaster preparedness makes a replay of the worst aspects of Katrina unlikely, were a similar storm to hit the Gulf coast today, African Americans would again disproportionately lack the resources - from good health to sturdy housing to a financial cushion - to weather the crisis. People whose heads are barely above water in good times have little to draw on in an emergency.

Sen. Landrieu's Environmental Record Called Out

2009-09-23T07:16:00.000-05:00

Last year, Landrieu joined the League of Conservation Voters' Dirty Dozen List as the "worst Democrat in the Senate on environmental issues." Landrieu's record depicts an energy industry rainmaker who uses spinmeister talents to obstruct real climate change reform in order to benefit the energy industry. Landrieu's answer for climate change is to increase offshore drilling by the carrot of diverting oil royalties to the states. This carrot is a chameleon: One year Landrieu successfully called it Katrina aid, now it is a financial miracle for the economic crises faced by coastal states. The reality is that the carrot is her bailout plan for the oil and gas industry, and environmental groups fear it may become part of the Senate's climate change bill. Offshore drilling would not only continue the fossil fuel pollution that causes climate change, but compound the existing climate change impacts suffered by our oceans.

Read the rest here.

Streetcar Expansion in NOLA

2009-09-23T06:50:00.000-05:00

The folks at the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority have been working on street railway expansion for years. Just as the Canal line was coming on line in 2004, NORTA was working on the original proposal to bring back service to Bywater and the Ninth, resurrecting the "Desire" line. The storm put a serious kink in those plans, since there's no longer a Ninth Ward to service. In the four years since the storm, NORTA has been working to re-package the Desire proposal, considering ideas such as running to Press St. or the Industrial Canal, and possibly even running an extension of the Riverfront line further downriver.

Read all of it here.

Louisiana's First Green Music Fest

2009-09-23T06:43:00.000-05:00

Project 30-90 launched the state's first green music festival, discussed here:

A new music festival in New Orleans is pushing its environmental cred as much as its music, touting lights and sound systems powered by the sun, paperless tickets and an investment in a landfill to offset emissions.

Food Security in the Big Easy

2009-09-23T06:20:00.000-05:00

The Nation puts it on the table

In a rundown of efforts across the country, The Nation discusses a local effort to improve school lunches here. And this article discusses New Orleanians' growing their own food.

Katrina Vigilantism Discussed

2009-09-22T10:46:00.000-05:00

In Katrina's aftermath, New Orleanians became all too familiar with the hastily spray-painted warning, "Looters will be shot." However, years later, it's becoming increasingly clear that, while some were desperate to defend their property, others used the climate of fear to engage in wide-spread vigilantism. Of course in this case, "vigilantism" is a euphemism for murdering African Americans minding their business.

Jack Rice discusses these murders with AC Green below:

Fiscal Conservative?

2009-09-22T10:10:00.001-05:00

Jindal Spends $45K Coptering to Church

Governor Jindal, who likes to cast himself as a fiscal conservative, has used the state's helicopter fleet to fly to various churches across the state. In the process, he has racked $45,000 in state expenses. Read about it here.

Empty Pandering

2009-09-22T07:56:00.001-05:00

Jindal cancels non-existing contracts with ACORN

Read about it at Talking Points Memo and the Times-Picayune.