Dr. John, Meters, REM, and nearly 200 others ask President Obama to commit to Gulf wetlands in letter and Voodoo Experience press conference
Internationally known musicians have united with Louisiana artists to call on President Obama to follow through on his initial steps towards a federal commitment to Louisiana coastal wetlands restoration. With the passage of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, musicians have urged the President to take action for the Gulf Coast through a letter and a press conference at the recent Voodoo Experience music festival in New Orleans City Park.
The Gulf Restoration Network partnered with Grammy-nominated musician Tab Benoit and his Voice of the Wetlands organization to enlist nearly 200 musicians and music industry leaders on a letter to the President urging immediate action to save Louisiana’s coastal wetlands. The letter (view here) was signed by a wide range of musicians and music industry voices; from New Orleans own Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Galactic, and Funky Meters to internationally known acts like REM, Trent Reznor, Ok Go, Los Lobos and Bonnie Raitt. See the complete press release here .
Gulf States Report Card
GRN Tells Gulf States to Clean Up Their Act!
The Gulf Restoration Network is proud to announce the release of Clean Up Your Act! Report Card. This report grades each of the five Gulf states on how different important sections of the Clean Water Act are incorporated into state rules. Regretfully each state scored poorly, averaging a D+.
The scores ranged from a C- to an F, which shows that all of the Gulf states have not lived up to their obligations under the Clean Water Act.
Lucky you! Did you just get the chance to sign up as a Gulf Sustainer with a Gulf Restoration Network representative that came to your door? If you haven’t yet, the opportunity may come knocking soon. From offices in New Orleans and Tampa, GRN canvassers are heading out into neighborhoods to engage residents in the fight to defend the Gulf Coast. Make sure to take advantage of their presence to get a quick update on GRN campaigns and to sign up as a Gulf Sustainer with an automatic, monthly donation.
Study Shows Significant Gulf Coast Wetland Loss
A new study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and US Fish and Wildlife Service shows that wetland loss
along Gulf Coast has far outpaced wetland loss in other parts of the United
States.From 1998 to 2004, the Gulf Coast lost more than 370,000 acres of wetlands, a rate 25 times
greater than wetland loss along the Atlantic Coast.
As noted in a Mobile Press-Register
story, much of the Gulf Coast wetland loss is due to development. The
report should cause state and federal agencies, such as the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, to take a hard look at their wetland permitting practices. As the GRN has often noted, state and federal
agencies are far too lax in permitting wetland destruction in the Gulf
Region. This study should serve as a wakeup call to
the Corps and other agencies that they are failing to adequately protect our
wetlands. A full copy of the report is available
here.
Protect the Pascagoula
Save one of America's last, large free-flowing rivers
Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction - in an effort to expand the nation's petroleum reserve, the Department of Energy is prepared to hollow out a series of salt domes near Richton, Mississippi. In other words, they're planning on pumping oil back into the ground! To do this, they will pump 50 million gallons of water from Mississippi's Pascagoula River everyday for five years to dissolve underground salt and then dump the salty, polluted byproduct off the coast of one of Mississippi's barrier islands. This process could have serious consequences for Gulf of Mexico and Pascagoula River fisheries and the businesses and jobs that rely on a healthy ecosystem.
To pour salt on the wound, this wholesale environmental destruction will cost taxpayers $4 billion. With a new head of the Department of Energy, now is the time to stop this madness: send the DOE your personal message now.
Our nation faces a variety of real and pressing challenges, from the growing economic turmoil to the impending consequences of global climate change. Amidst all these significant challenges, it's hard to believe that the Department of Energy is ready to squander $4 billion dollars on this environmentally destructive project. It's time that the federal government focused its efforts on ending our dependence on oil rather than squandering precious dollars on solving yesterday's problems.
Read more about the project here and take action here.
Lucky you! Did you just get the chance to sign up as a Gulf Sustainer with a Gulf Restoration Network representative that came to your door? If you haven’t yet, the opportunity may come knocking soon. From offices in New Orleans and Tampa, GRN canvassers are heading out into neighborhoods to engage residents in the fight to defend the Gulf Coast. Make sure to take advantage of their presence to get a quick update on GRN campaigns and to 
