NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE NATION'S CAPITOL

Looks like the Senate failed to pass a measure instructing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin planning more explicitly to deal with climate change impacts to their projects. Though the amendment received more than 50 votes, it failed to get the 60 it needed procedurally. Sigh. There were a ton of other amendments being offered to the bill, the latest incarnation of the Water Resources Development Act (say 'Wur Duh' to sound like a wonky DC insider). Some of those amendments would have a significant impact on our coast and our restoration efforts. Sens Vitter and Landrieu appear to be jousting of who gets the best positioning to be THE Louisiana coastal savior, offering competing and similar amendments.

On the "Views" front - John Barry, author of Rising Tide (important book on the Mississippi River and the Corps of Engineers - only ten bucks at Amazon right now, if you haven't read it, think this blog is interesting/informative, then go buy it) offered this opinion piece for the Washington Post, reprinted yesterday in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. It offers an important perspective on why Louisiana's coast is the nation's responsibility.

I especially like this fact he cites while discussing the role of the energy industry's pipeline and exploration canals on our coastal conundrum:

Every inch of those 10,000-plus miles lets saltwater penetrate, and eat away at, the coast. So energy production has enormously accelerated what was a slow degradation, transforming a long-term problem into an immediate crisis. The deprivation of sediment is like moving a block of ice from the freezer to the sink, where it begins to melt; the effect of the canals and pipelines is like attacking that ice with an ice pick, breaking it up.

So let's make sure Congress makes the most of this pass at WRDA, and learns the lessons of Katrina while ensuring the resources necessary to deal with this ice-pick wielding threat.

Aaron Viles is the Gulf Restoration Network's Campaign Director