Gulf Restoration Network

Jackson For A Healthy Gulf Festivals and Events Monday, 11 March 2013 12:39

Hal and Mal's Restaurant was the venue for Jackson for a Healthy Gulf, our second annual GRN event for our friends and members in Jackson, Ms. On March 5th, 25 guests came to eat hot tamales, have drinks, and learn about GRN's 2013 Mississippi activities and campaigns. Helen Rose Patterson, our outreach team director, hosted the GRN membership table and pulled names for the raffle items. I covered GRN's current Mississippi water and wetland issues and campaigns including the 12 Miles South Coalition's activities in opposition to oil and gas drilling too close to the Mississippi barrier islands. GRN and Sierra Club of Mississippi's have appealed the state's administrative rules on oil and gas exploration. We discussed the BP oil spill's effect on those islands, and our work to reduce nutrients in the Mississippi River that contribute to the Gulf Dead Zone. Compared to 2012, we doubled the number of attendees and there were good comments and questions from guests. It was a lively and enjoyable evening. Raffle items for the night were donated by AVEDA, Buffalo Peak Outfitters, and Claire Whitehurst.

Andrew Whitehurst is GRN's Assistant Director of Science and Water Policy

A View from Above: the newest land in North America Forests and Wetlands Friday, 08 March 2013 16:38

  A Picture is worth at least 50 words. A View from Above gives more space to photos we at GRN take while monitoring wetlands, pollution, and the Gulf of Mexico.

photo overflight thanks to On Wings of Care

 A delta splay was created in the wake of the Flood of 2011, via a diversion project on the Mississippi River. 

Less than two years after the flood, migrating white pelicans can be seen using the land. 

A View from Above: New Orleans, City by the Sea Storm Protection / Coastal Issues Friday, 08 March 2013 16:12

 A Picture is worth at least 50 words. A View from Above gives more space to photos we at GRN take while monitoring wetlands, pollution, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Although we often forget, New Orleans is a Coastal City. click below to view a large photo of the City and its primary Bayou, Bayou St John.

 photo overflight thanks to On Wings of Care

Does a Bear need the Woods? (audio post) Endangered and Threatened Species Friday, 08 March 2013 15:24

Audio Post:  Paul Davidson, Executive Director of the Black Bear Conservation Coalition   
 

re-posted from WTUL News and Views

audio: MP3 at 16.4 mebibytes

Paul Davidson, Executive Director of the Black Bear Conservation Coalition

The Louisiana Black Bear: No More Protection Needed? 

http://www.bbcc.org/ 

The Louisiana black bear was first brought into the national spotlight by the well-publicized display of sportsmanship by Teddy Roosevelt. Currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the Louisiana black bear is again making the news as some proclaim it has recovered sufficiently to be delisted, and even hunted.

Building Our Summer Outreach Team General Thursday, 07 March 2013 10:01

For a fifth summer, Gulf Restoration Network will once again be heading into communities throughout the Gulf region to engage the public on the very serious issues facing the Gulf of Mexico.

GRN advocates will be knocking on doors and initiating thousands of conversations about how to hold BP accountable for the damage caused by their drilling disaster and steps we can take to ensure that it never happens again. Each door is an opportunity to talk about the importance of the wildlife, special cultures and ways of life that are dependent on the health of the Gulf of Mexico. Each conversation is also a chance to become a member of GRN so that we can continue to fight to protect the Gulf and all that it supports.

Wave Maker's News: Coal Terminals Expanding in the Dirty South Healthy Waters / Dead Zone Tuesday, 05 March 2013 14:23

This article is excerpted from Wave Makers News, our quarterly update on all things water in the Gulf of Mexico, check out the full newsletter here.

Coal and petroleum coke pollution in the Mississippi River. Photo courtesy of Dubinsky Photography for LeanWeb.org and LMRK.org. Flight courtesy of Southwings.org.If you pay attention to environmental and global warming news, you very well might have heard about the proposed coal export terminals in the Northwest. Coal use in the United States has gone down, so now some of the dirtiest companies in the country are looking to export this carbon that should be staying in the ground.

Activists in the Northwest have been putting up a great fight, and have up to this point been very successful in stopping these exports; so now Big Coal is eying the Gulf Coast to get their coal to international markets. The Gulf Coast has often been treated as America’s Energy Sacrifice Zone, and it looks like Big Coal wants us to take another hit.

The Cost of Catastrophe BPs Oil Drilling Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico Friday, 01 March 2013 15:21

This guest blog is by legal intern Steven Rothermel, a third year law student at Tulane who has been part of GRN's legal observer team for the BP trial

The question of the day: how did BP assess risk in their exploration and production of oil in the Gulf of Mexico?

BP’s answer: Cost.