Building a New, Green New Orleans

By Timothy Lange, Grist.org. Posted September 22, 2005.

I heard that George Bush told New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin the city could be remade into "a shining example for the whole world." If Bush did say that, it surely wasn't an environmentally sound renaissance he had in mind. But that is precisely what is needed.

Call it Eco New Orleans. It should encompass not just the city, but the other places blasted by Katrina and by FEMA's impressively incompetent response. The Eco New Orleans I'm talking about should extend scores of miles in every direction. It should be a place attuned to the definition of sustainable development put forth by the U.N.'s Brundtland Commission: "Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Some estimates put the cost of rebuilding the city and its neighbors at $150 billion -- seven times more than the total amount the feds spent on the nation's 10 most expensive previous natural disasters. Eco New Orleans would cost even more, take longer, and require forming a plethora of public-private enterprises and overcoming immense ideological obstacles. But if we as Americans are unwilling to spend the time and money to rebuild New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast with environmental concerns taking a front seat, then we're as self-interestedly myopic as the administration that couldn't pry itself out of vacation mode to save people's lives.

I'm not saying we can, or should, start tomorrow -- the ongoing human disaster caused by Katrina must be taken care of first. Nor do I seek imposition of a utopian ideal that ignores the region's unique culture, history, and atmosphere. Building Eco New Orleans would demand an innovative politics not only to educate communities about the benefits of an environmentally sound approach, but also to spur them to provide input into how exactly to implement it. It would call for, to use a phrase from my youth, "participatory democracy."

Much can be done to shape the damaged Gulf Coast into a model for others to emulate, modifying it for their own circumstances. I have no blueprint, just an outline of ideas that other people have been thinking about far longer than I. Here are a few places to start:

Fully fund "Coast 2050." This wish list of restoration projects, first put together in the late 1990s, carries an estimated price tag of $14 billion over 30 years. The Bush administration has reliably opposed funding for it.

Because wetlands act as a storm buffer, those already lost to erosion and subsidence probably worsened Hurricane Katrina's destruction. About 90 percent of America's coastal wetlands loss each year occurs in Louisiana: 1,900 square miles since 1932, an additional 700 square miles by 2050, scientists say. If these resources disappear at even a fraction of this pace, immense harm will be caused to human populations, infrastructure, the seafood industry, fisheries, and wildlife.

Coast 2050 is no radical proposal, even though the motivation behind it is grim. Like any plan assembled by diverse stakeholders, it's a compromise. As its creators say: "Because natural processes created the highly productive wetlands in coastal Louisiana, reestablishment of these processes is essential to achieve sustainability. Reestablishment does not imply controlling nature ... [or] a return of the coastal system to a pristine condition, because too much has changed for that to occur. The intent is to design restoration strategies based on ecological principles so the future coast will have the productivity and other desirable features of a highly valued natural system."

Upgrade oil refineries. Several refineries have been temporarily shut down by Katrina, but they'll be back. When operational, these facilities are environmental disasters, founded on outdated technology and producing a heavy output of pollution.

No hydrocarbon refining process can ever be truly green. But greener refineries would install shielded pipes and conduits; isolated and double-barrier-protected towers, tanks, and reservoirs; and multiple pressure-relief and blowout prevention devices. Greener refineries would initiate more efficient processing and capture effluents and reaction products better. Greener would require better scrubbing and filtering. Greener would involve better oversight, maintenance, training, and siting.

Never keen on enhancing environmental controls of any sort, President Bush has proposed that new refineries be constructed on closed military bases with no such modifications. Getting the administration to press even minor upgrades for existing refineries would be no easy matter.

Curtail oil and gas drilling in the Delta. Since Katrina struck, many people have taken note of last year's almost supernaturally prescient piece "Gone With the Water" in National Geographic. Joel K. Bourne Jr. described a New Orleans-area catastrophe that could have been yanked from the recent headlines.

Timothy Lange has worked as a reporter, editor, columnist, and publisher for 35 years. He won the 2004 Koufax Award for blog commentary and makes his online home at The Next Hurrah, a group political blog that originally published a longer version of this article.

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from Environment! Sign up now »