Dear Al Gore:
Congratulations on the Nobel Peace Prize! In "An Inconvenient Truth," you point out, while showing scenes of a flooded, burning New Orleans, how climate change will bring more and stronger hurricanes. And, while you don't show a satellite photo of Louisiana, you do show ones depicting global warming's impact on similarly low-lying areas such as Florida, which will be imperiled.
I hope, if you decide to be a candidate, that you make rebuilding New Orleans and the coastal Louisiana and Mississippi communities devastated by Katrina and Rita the highest priority. None of the candidates so far--Democratic or Republican--has made this his or her defining issue. A Marshall Plan is desperately needed for this area, which not only has been neglected but has been abandoned by the Bush Administration. Start speaking out on this, Mr. Gore--it is still a crisis two years later and needs to be a major campaign issue.
New Orleans needs to be made into a stronger, safer city her evacuees will want to return to and people and businesses from elsewhere will want to relocate in. Key to making her people feel more secure so they will want to stay in New Orleans is, firstly, upgrading her levees to Category 5.
But that's not all--for New Orleans to be even safer, Louisiana's coastal wetlands need to be restored. In the past New Orleans had been cushioned from the impacts of storms by miles of wetlands that had served as speed bumps by absorbing storm surges. But not when Katrina hit--so much of the wetlands had disappeared along the MR-GO waterway, Katrina's massive storm surge was easily able to power its way into Lake Pontchartrain, then into New Orleans' canals, causing the failues of the levees along one, and drowning 80% of that city.
Besides protecting New Orleans, Louisiana's wetlands have also been serving as the ecologically-precious nurseries for fish, shrimp and other seafood, and as way stations for migratory birds. Also, the distinctive way of life of the Cajun fishers and shrimpers along Louisiana's coast will be irretrievably lost once these wetlands have been washed away. And oil and natural gas installations will eventually be exposed to the corrosive onslaught of the sea.
(I know America needs to move away from the use of such fossil fuels--but before clean, renewable alternatives become widely available, we still need oil and natural gas.)
Louisiana's wetlands have been washing away at the astounding rate of a football field every half hour. Since 1930 she has lost the equivalent of the state of Delaware. And this process has been accellerated by Katrina and Rita, which caused the vanishing of 271 square miles of wetlands on top of what Louisiana has already been losing.
Mr. Gore, if you decide to run, please make both Gulf Region recovery and Louisiana coastal restoration a major isssue. New Orleans and Louisiana and Mississippi storm zone communities need to be brought back and there needs to be a plan to stop the erosion and then to restore enough of the land that has been lost to help protect New Orleans from future storms and keeping the fishing and seafood industries alive. Louisiana's very survival is at stake. And being a producer of oil, natural gas, fish and seafood, and beautiful music such as jazz, Cajun and zydeco, Louisiana is a valuable part of this nation. America ignores the need to keep Louisiana alive at her peril.