Danae Columbus
The American Red Cross labeled it “the worst natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy.”
With last week’s devastating floods which displaced more than 40,000 citizens and caused 11 deaths, along with Tuesday’s 47th anniversary of Hurricane Camille and the upcoming 11th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana’s citizens should focus on what climate change has already done to our state and their personal responsibility to create a more sustainable future. Continue reading »
This diagram shows the drainage improvements on one side of Galvez Street as part of a $51 million drainage project around Central City. (via City of New Orleans)
LaToya Cantrell
A new $51 million drainage project along Martin Luther King Boulevard will help prevent flooding from heavy rains around the Central City area — but instead of simply trying to push water away through underground canals, it will absorb and store it according the most current thinking on stormwater management in New Orleans. Continue reading »
(via Green Light New Orleans)
Green Light New Orleans and the Urban Conservancy, two local nonprofit organizations, received a total of $250,000 in grant money from the Allianz Katrina Fund to promote sustainable living in Orleans and Jefferson Parish by implementing programs which address energy consumption, water mitigation and fresh food access.
A diagram demonstrating the parts of a bioswale included in a presentation by city officials.
If all goes as planned, the Lower Garden District will soon get a 600-foot-long bioswale along Coliseum Square Park, thanks to money pledged by the Sewerage and Water Board to give the city more green infrastructure. Continue reading »
The nonprofit Save Our Cemeteries will be supervising the community clean-up Tuesday of the historic Valence Cemetery in the Freret neighborhood by trimming ferns, clipping invasive vegetation, and removing trash. Continue reading »
Holly Elwell of the Trust for Public Land describes the Climate-Smart Cities initiative at the Propeller entrepreneurship incubator on Monday, April 25. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
A new mapping tool that collects and visualizes environmental data down to the neighborhood-, street- and property-level will help New Orleans improve the planning of its “green infrastructure” — to cool the city off, manage stormwater runoff, increase bicycle transportation and even protect against storm surge, officials said. Continue reading »
The New Orleans Unit of The Herb Society of America will host their annual Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, April 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be herbs, butterfly plants, annuals and perennials for purchase. The sale will be held rain or shine, and proceeds will benefit local educational programs. Continue reading »
Energy Wise demonstrates light bulb efficiency with bike generator. (via Alliance Française)
In light of the upcoming COP21 UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris, Alliance Française and the World Trade Center of New Orleans will host an energy efficiency workshop and climate change documentary. This free event takes place this Wednesday, Nov. 18, and will include wine and cheese. Continue reading »
Allan Katz and Danae Columbus
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to do a better job of estimating the risks of flooding around the U.S. With the upcoming 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina – much of whose destruction was caused by poorly engineered and maintained levees – we naturally think about the heavy losses to our region, what it has taken to rebuild, and all the people who died or have not been able to return. Continue reading »
(image via Alliance Francaise)
Via Green Light
Green Light New Orleans, a non-profit looking to make the city more environmentally friendly, will give away free spinach today and host a celebration in support of the Give NOLA fundraising efforts. Continue reading »
Via Louisiana Bucket Brigade
The Louisiana Bucket Brigade will celebrate Earth Day festivities in New Orleans this weekend with a festival and Solar Derby in Carrollton’s Palmer Park. Continue reading »
Via WWNO
WWNO, the local public-radio affiliate, and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in Central City will host and moderate a discussion next week of the impact of the BP oil spill on Louisiana seafood that still remains five years later. Continue reading »
As a part of its Biever Lecture Series, Loyola University is hosting a talk Thursday called “The Environment’s Challenge to Religion” given by philosophy professor Robert McKim. Continue reading »
via Tulane University
Toby Miller, a social scientist and author, will speak at Tulane tonight about uses for electronic waste. Continue reading »
Green Light New Orleans, the nonprofit that installs energy-efficient light bulbs in area homes, recently installed its 500,000th compact fluorescent lamp, and is throwing a party tonight (Tuesday, Jan. 20) at Carrollton Station to celebrate. Continue reading »
Protesters chant on the corner of Freret and Cadiz. (Zach Brien, UptownMessenger.com)
Article by Robert Morris; photos by Zach Brien
A group of local environmental activists huddled against the cold wind Tuesday night to create an audiovisual protest against a proposed expansion of an oil pipeline from Canada visible to Freret Street drivers. Continue reading »
Retired Lt. Gen. Russell Honore (center) and other advocates discuss contamination in the soil at the former Booker T. Washington site in front of what remains of the former school. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
When Lt. Gen. Russell Honore led 20,000 federal troops into the city of New Orleans for search-and-rescue missions in the aftermath of the collapse of the federal levees following Hurricane Katrina, he instructed his soldiers not to let the contaminated water touch them.
Nine years later, Honore said, the risk of pollution to New Orleanians is coming not from the failures of the federal government, but from decisions made by leaders right here in the city and state — such as the plan to rebuild Booker T. Washington High School in Central City on top of heavily contaminated soil at the old Clio Street dump. State documents show that in some locations, cancer-causing compounds are present in levels more than 100 times what is considered acceptable.
“As we worked nine years ago to help save this city, we’re going to work now to help save this city from itself,” Honore said. “Because you know what? It’s not the White House doing this. It’s not President Bush doing this. It’s the leaders in New Orleans doing this, and it’s people we did not put in the office — the RSD.”
Many alumni of Booker T. Washington, however, believe that the Recovery School District’s plan for treating the contamination is sufficient, that Honore’s concerns are an unnecessary excess of caution, and that it is time to move the long-delayed construction of a state-of-the-art school forward. Continue reading »
Retired Gen. Russell Honore speaks at the GreenARMY Katrina commemoration at Xavier University. (Zach Brien for UptownMessenger.com)
As New Orleans continues to recover from the devastation that followed Hurricane Katrina nine years ago, the city should pass a law preventing any schools or daycare centers from being built on top of toxic soil — including the proposed rebuilding of the Booker T. Washington High School over the old Silver City dump site in Central City, retired Lt. Gen. Russell Honore and local allies said Saturday morning.
“We’re the oldest city in this part of the country, and we ought to be the first to make a stand,” Honore said. “We’re not going to put a school on a dump.” Continue reading »
Lt. Gen. Russell Honore speaks in February at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in New Orleans. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Robert Morris)
Retired Gen. Russell Honore will lead a Hurricane Katrina commemoration breakfast at Xavier University on Saturday with speakers from New Orleans and surrounding communities giving updates on the fight for environmental justice in Louisiana and the upcoming 2015 legislative session. Continue reading »
