coastal erosion

An aerial view of the Wax Lake Delta on the coast of Louisiana. The delta is one of the few places along Louisiana’s coast that is building land instead of losing it.

Louisiana has a new leader for its coastal restoration efforts

The new leader of Louisiana’s coastal preservation efforts brings a background in the burgeoning field of environmental markets to the job.

This is the sign on a Exxon gas station in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.

Coastal Desk

SCOTUS to hear appeal from Chevron, Exxon in landmark Louisiana coastal damage lawsuits

The Associated Press

The Supreme Court will hear an appeal from Chevron, Exxon and other oil and gas companies that lawsuits seeking compensation for coastal land loss and environmental degradation in Louisiana should be heard in federal court.

Louisiana’s ambitious plan to save and restore its coastline is stalled amid lawsuits seeking to halt the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project. And now Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has voiced his own concerns about the project which environmental advocates fear could stall the project indefinitely.

Coastal Desk

Uncertainty looms over plan to save coastal Louisiana

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

Federal leaders and Gov. Jeff Landry clash over the state’s projected spending for the $3 billion project.

Louisiana leaders broke ground on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project on Aug. 10, 2023, but construction on the project has been delayed. Two separate lawsuits are challenging the impacts it could have on the state’s coastline. Louisiana is in danger of losing the more than $2 billion allocated for the project if it doesn’t commit to seeing it through.

Coastal Desk

Louisiana could be out billions of dollars if controversial coastal restoration stalls

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

The feds threaten to withhold $2.2 billion from the massive effort to save and restore the state’s diminishing coastline if leaders don’t act soon.

An aerial view of broken wetlands in Plaquemines Parish. Projections by Climate Central indicate that the parish could lose another 100,000 acres of wetlands by the end of the century.

Coastal Desk

Louisiana voters want federal money from offshore wind to go toward coastal restoration

Eva Tesfaye

Louisiana’s coastal restoration fund could get a boost from offshore wind revenues.

The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a man-made navigational channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans, is deemed a critical protection asset for the greater New Orleans area, and in 2017 was added to the list of restoration projects identified by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Coastal Desk

As funding dries up for Louisiana’s coastal restoration program, advocates are strategizing to sustain it

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

A coalition of environmental groups is pushing 18 projects to protect Gulf Coast communities from land loss and storm damage.

Submerged aquatic vegetation, a key indicator of freshwater marsh health, is in abundance in the waters of Bay Denesse on Sept. 12, 2022, where efforts to cut small crevasses and build terraces have led to new land. Bay Denesse connects to the new, larger Mississippi River crevasse known as Neptune Pass on Plaquemines Parish's east bank.

Coastal Desk

As clock ticks down, advocates urge state to find new funding for coastal restoration

Halle Parker

Billions of dollars in procured from oil giant BP has been the main source of coastal restoration funding. But that money is set to run out in 2031. A new brief pushes urgency.

Former educators and students at Upper Little Caillou Elementary School pose for a group photo with a plaque during the Chauvin Schools Reconnect reunion on Saturday, April 27, 2024.

Coastal Desk

Down the bayou, multi-school reunion helps a community reconnect amid decline, changing coast

Halle Parker

Chauvin, Louisiana has watched schools shutdown, public services relocate and people move away. Saturday's school reunion gave residents the chance to reconnect and celebrate the community's future.

Coastal Desk

Army Corps greenlights Louisiana’s $2.2 billion sediment diversion to combat land loss

Halle Parker

In a historic decision, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed off on Louisiana’s $2.2 billion plan to divert muddy Mississippi River water into Plaquemines Parish’s degraded wetlands to rebuild land on Monday.

Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe member Pete Lebeouf works with volunteers to load bags of oyster shells onto a boat on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022.

Coastal Desk

A Louisiana tribe is losing cultural sites to coastal erosion. Oyster reefs could help.

Halle Parker

For the past six years, the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe has battled to stop its historic earthen Indian mounds from slipping into the sea, looking to the power of oyster shells to protect them. Now, they’ve expanded that effort.