Oyster has a must-read post today about Bush administration efforts to refuse SE Louisiana the critical levees it needs. During the Presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to change that. Obama has a full fact-sheet on Katrina, it's worth your while to read (pdf).
As president, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
So what does that mean for hurricane protection?
As president, Barack Obama will ensure that New Orleans has a levee and pumping system to protect the city against a 100-year storm by 2011, with the ultimate goal of protecting the entire city from a Category 5 storm. Obama and Biden will also direct revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling to increased coastal hurricane protection.
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Barack Obama and Joe Biden will help the Gulf Coast restore the wetlands, marshes and barrier islands that are critical to tamping down the force of hurricanes. They will work with local governments to develop the best strategies for protecting and expanding wetlands.
These promises are vague. We have to pin the Obama administration down. Certainly there are many angry legislators willing to speak out over the Bush administration obstacle course but I have not seen much evidence that our elected officials will be attempting to do force the immediate action we need using the infrastructure stimulus bill. This strikes me as a missed opportunity.
I also have not seen much evidence that national progressive bloggers or mainstream journalists are particularly interested in pinning the administration down on hurricane protection infrastructure. I haven't seen many outside of SE Louisiana particularly willing to put effort into promoting issues related to hurricane protection in even a general sense.
So that leaves...
Us?
The issue of hurricane and flood protection is fundamental to the most basic sustainability of this region in the short, medium, and long term. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to inject our issue into the national conversation about the infrastructure stimulus bill?
In the mean time, I've floated the idea of flood protection for New Orleans to the Citizen's Briefing Book at Change.gov. The way it works is that if an idea is popular, Obama people respond to it. Failing that, it probably helps to put New Orleans issues out there to see how much they resonate with the mainstream liberals that presumably populate the Change.gov community.
There are only a few ideas on that site that directly relate to New Orleans. The one I've created appears to have the most points but that's not saying very much at all.
We need to force the issue. This little experiment takes all of 45 seconds of your time.
"Vote Up" Flood Protection for New Orleans
And tell your friends? Yeah, tell your friends.
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