Illustration by Laura Pavicevic-Johnston

Little Gypsy, Big Mess

by Laura Pavicevic-Johnston, NPN Service Learner 

On Thursday, November eighth, the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC), voted unanimously to exchange your money, health, and environmental well-being in exchange for the corporate welfare of Entergy Louisiana and the Shaw Group. In Monte, LA, a town no more than 1,000 people, Entergy Co. has been approved to convert the “Little Gypsy” power plant from natural gas to coal and pet coke, one of the dirtiest burning fuel sources available, at the likely expense of ratepayers throughout the state.
Entergy first proposed the conversion back in July 2007, when it came first before the LPSC, an elected body of five officials who regulate utilities. Two days after the application was filed, the LPSC began receiving complaints (legally called interventions) from groups such as chemical and oil companies, WalMart, and a coalition of environmental groups including the Louisiana Alliance for Affordable Energy, the Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Gulf Restoration Network.
The objections: both consumer and business rate payers will be forced to pay in advance 1.5 billion dollars for a coal plant whose prospects are precarious. The technology is outdated and will release pollutants such as carbon in unsafe quantities. The subsequent approval of this conversion by the LPSC is irresponsible and imprudent. The expenses will be felt not only in your wallet, but also on your conscience.
“The number one thing that really disappointed us was the fact that the commissioners had made up their minds ahead of time,” said Leslie March, Chair of the Delta Chapter of the Sierra Club. March’s group, with others, intervened and presented a strong case for dismissal.
The main argument on behalf of rate payers concerns Entergy’s request to “recover construction-related financing costs” prior to the building of the plant. The application that passed on Thursday was step one; Entergy has the go-ahead to purchase parts needed to build the plant (totaling an estimated $225 million) before final approval to build in a year. For the second time in Louisiana’s history, this cost will be added to utility bills before the plant begins operation, because, according to the application to convert, it is unfair to expect stockholders to shoulder this cost. Consumers will be paying current utility bills from the natural gas plant in addition to a “fuel adjustment charge” for the plant.
Overall cost estimates for the plant have been in flux. When Entergy initially presented the proposal, the costs ran around $1 billion, but three months later they jumped to $1.5 billion. The shift occurred when Entergy chose the Shaw Group Inc. as the construction firm for the plant. During the hearing on Thursday, however, the LPSC stated there was still analysis to be done and a final cost wouldn’t be available until July.
John Atkeison, Director of Climate and Clean Energy Programs for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, attended the hearing and said, “No one is even claiming a benefit until 2025, and that’s if it even happens.” “The most optimistic figure was 2025. The Louisiana Energy User’s group was saying 2041.”
Rick Fabiani, a student attorney who worked on the case, said, “They’re facing a tradeoff between the volatility of natural gas prices and the cost of carbon from coal. In our view, and in many scenarios, the cost of carbon is higher.”
The Environment
In addition to financial concerns, environmental organizations have voiced worries. Carbon is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, and the key gas which could tip the balance of global climate and send us on path toward violent weather patterns and rising sea levels.
Currently coal plants amount to thirty-five percent of all carbon emissions. Efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, such as changing fuel standards or planting trees are simply overwhelmed by the existence of coal fired plants. For example, if California’s legislation to reduce carbon dioxide emission from cars by twenty-five percent passed on all cars in 2009, the emissions from one medium sized coal plant running for only eight months would negate this entire effort. There is still no way to effectively sequester, or catch, the carbon that’s emitted. There is no such thing as clean coal.
“The decision is moving in exactly the wrong direction at the worst possible time,” said John Atkeison.
Nationally, pressure has been mounting on both business and government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, specifically carbon. We face a new administration in the White House in the next year, and with that most analysts are predicting a carbon tax which will fundamentally increase costs from dirty energy sources, like coal plants.
Campaigns worldwide are calling for reductions of carbon dioxide levels and cleaner energy sources. “The rest of the county is making different decisions, even conservative states like Florida and Kansas,” said Leslie March. “But here in Louisiana, it’s business as usual.”
Into the Future
The approval of Entergy’s plant avoids the issue of volatile coal prices in the future. “There are many scenarios, most of which sink the ratepayers in this proposal,” said Corinne Van Dalen, instructor at the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, which intervened on behalf of the Environmental Alliance.
There are over six bills currently in Congress which significantly limit carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. One new bill on the floor would cut carbon by 80% by 2050, and some are even stricter than that. “It will be billions of dollars for polluters,” said Mary Nagle, student attorney with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic. “Basically, rate payers will pay for the plant, even if Entergy doesn’t use it due to lack of political or economic viability.”
The threat is that if coal prices rise precipitously in the future due to carbon taxing, or if the political climate in Washington steps up and puts a moratorium on new coal plants, the conversion at Little Gypsy will come to a halt. Entergy’s decision to tax you ahead of time would appear to shift this financial risk from their stockholders.
“Look at their website,” said Atkeison. “Entergy claims to fight climate change, but in fact they’re doing the exact opposite.” Medium sized plants, like Little Gypsy, can emit up to eight million tons of carbon a year.
Aside from producing carbon, burning pet coke will produce huge amounts of sulfur, mercury and other toxic chemicals. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has given the go ahead, but the EPA is still debating whether or not to give Entergy the permits it needs to build. The Sierra Club and others have intervened to try and halt this conversion.
With lawyers at the Law Clinic still undecided as to whether or not to appeal the decision, it appears that the EPA may be our last hope in stopping this conversion before it’s too late. If the EPA withholds permits, Entergy may have to halt the conversion.
Given the history of polluting power plants in Louisiana, Entergy and the LPSC should consider the damage of another plant spewing carbon, sulfur and other harmful chemicals into our atmosphere. Many chemicals associated with this plant have been linked to lung disease and other respiratory problems. These immediate health impacts will merely be compounded environmental woes if climate change continues as predicted. No one needs a reminder of how vulnerable Louisiana is in a situation with rising seas and frequent storms.
Power Play
“The only people who make money on these deals are contractors,” said Leslie March. The cards were stacked against Entergy on this case and yet the conversion passed unanimously. “The Commissioners are elected, but Entergy is the largest company in the state,” said student attorney Mary Nagle. “They wield a lot of power.”
Before the final decision was made, LPSC Chairman Jay Blossman told the Times-Picayune he fully favored the conversion. Lawyers immediately moved to remove him from the ruling; state law requires that members objectively oversee such proceedings. The motion failed and the politics of Louisiana continued in their shady ways. Instead of looking to the future in forward-thinking, responsible manner, Entergy Co. and the LPSC are resorting to the status quo, but it is a status quo that we can no longer afford.
Let’s count: suspicious up-front charges for plant construction, immediate health risks, environmental degradation and contribution to global warming which poses a detrimental risk to New Orleans, rate hikes in future, and crooked politics. The “business as usual” motto of Louisiana’s elite is failing its people. Any way you look at it, this plant reeks.

“Stumped” For the Perfect Gift? Give the Gift of Releaf

Anne Atkinson, Parkway Partners

This year, consider honoring the impossible-to-buy-for with trees. You’ll be giving a gift that will outlive you and your loved ones, and you’ll help the recovery of New Orleans. Over 50,000 trees on neutral grounds and countless others in private landscapes were lost to Katrina.
The tree-gifting campaign is part of Parkway Partners’ ReLeaf New Orleans initiative, the goal of which is to replace New Orleans trees. Parkway Partners is the non-profit volunteer arm of the New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways, working with schools, businesses, neighborhood and civic associations and local and national foundations to accomplish the goal of a greener, healthier New Orleans.
As major thoroughfares are replanted by Parkway Partners, residents and schools will be offered free and low-cost trees to restore side streets and schoolyards. To date, several thousand trees have been replaced and Parkway Partners is only in its second planting season since the storm.
You are invited to participate in ReLeaf New Orleans by sponsoring a neutral ground tree in honor of friends or loved ones. Donations of 300, 400 or 500 dollars will purchase crape myrtles, magnolias or live oaks, and a one-year maintenance plan with a licensed arborist for the tree. Your honorees (up to ten per tree) will be acknowledged with holiday cards.
You may elect instead to purchase a tree for planting between the street and sidewalk to honor up to four people for one hundred dollars. Street-to-sidewalk trees are smaller than neutral ground trees and are maintained by homeowners.
Trees are not only beautiful - they are the one element of a city’s infrastructure that increases in value over time, and they are critical to community health. They filter solid and gaseous particulate pollutants out of the air and they reduce energy costs by shading buildings in the summer and cutting winds in the winter. Their thirsty roots soak up storm water and help prevent street flooding. They also filter noise pollution from highways and other sources. Trees improve property values and tree-planting campaigns unify neighborhoods and increase civic pride.
A gift of ReLeaf is a gift of life. Please join Parkway Partners in reforesting New Orleans. To purchase trees in honor of others, or to learn more about the ReLeaf New Orleans initiative and how you can help to re-green the Big Easy, call Parkway Partners’ Executive Director Jean Fahr at (504)-620-2224.

Why Coastal Louisiana is Important to the Nation

Robert Thomas, Ph.D., Interim Director of Loyola University’s School of Mass Communication

In the aftermath of Katrina, hundreds of thousands of Americans have given of themselves to help rebuild our coast.  I recently visited with a group of students from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and shared why New Orleans is important to our nation.  When finished, Conrad Smith, one of the group’s chaperones, approached me and said, “You don’t have to convince me how important New Orleans is to Nebraska.  I’m a corn farmer.  When Katrina hit, we were in the middle of our harvest.  We couldn’t send our product past New Orleans on the Mississippi, so we filled up our silos.  About the time they were full, the bottom fell out of the market and we lost our year’s income.”
There are two paths out of this quagmire of devastation.  Citizens must dig deep to pull themselves up, and that is happening.  And citizens must elect enlightened leaders who can reconnect the dots that were so horribly scattered after Katrina and Rita.
Here are a few of the major dots:

Oil and gas:  Louisiana is the energy coast, with 30 percent of all oil and gas entering the country passing through the Port of Fourchon.  The industry annually pays salaries of $2.7 billion to over 40,000 employees, half of whom are residents of other states.

Petrochemical corridor:  Louisiana’s petrochemical business is consistently number three in serving the needs of the U.S.  In 2005, the Katrina/Rita year, we shipped $50 billion in product.

Coastal fisheries:  America’s WETLAND is the nursery that provides 40 percent of the commercial fisheries in the continental U.S.  Nationally, seven of the top 10 landing ports are in Louisiana.  We are the nation’s largest producer of oysters and supply 50 percent of the shrimp.  Total annual value is $2.85 billion and fisheries provide 40,000 direct jobs.

Coastal agriculture:  Sugar alone produces $1.7 billion in economic value.  Though rice production took a beating in the storms, its most recent value was $235 million.

Port system:  Louisiana is home to the number one port complex in the nation, hosting five of the 15 largest individual ports in the nation.  A recent study showed the ports’ total annual economic impact was $30 billion, and supported more than 240 thousand jobs.

Tourism:  Before the storms, tourism produced $10 billion in revenue, and provided more than 110,000 direct jobs.  Greater New Orleans consistently ranks number two in desired destinations for Americans.

Unique culture:  One cannot put a value on the gumbo culture that we all love, and that is arguably the largest draw of tourism to coastal Louisiana.  The ambiance of coastal Louisiana is directly attributable to the people who live here, their cultures of origin, and the means by which they have adapted to living in this unique coastal wetland environment.  The place created the people, and the people’s consequent lifestyles are extraordinary.

Inherent abilities of our citizens:  Frances Smith has relocated to the metro Dallas.  She and other New Orleanians in the area are networking for the betterment of their displaced community.  Members of the group have launched several restaurants, and other members volunteer their time and effort to make them successful.  There are often lines of customers out the door – mainly because of two things we take for granted.  One is that we cook very tasty food, and the second is that we do that because there are so many culinarily gifted people living along the coast.  I’ve heard that many of our citizens who have relocated are immediately improving their work lives:  sous chefs are becoming chefs, waiters are becoming maetre d’s, and the like.  What we see as commonplace, others see as extraordinary.

Steve Cheramie, a Houma Indian from Point-aux-Chen, says that his tribe defines itself in terms of the place it lives.  He believes that if the land where he lives sinks beneath the sea, the Houma will cease to exist as a people.
I believe most citizens of south Louisiana feel the same way.  If we lose our way of life, the place we live, we will not be the same people, and America will have lost its most unusual geographic and demographic area.
When the dots are reconnected, enlightened leaders will see the outline of a key to national security and prosperity that will only work in the lock of a restored coastal Louisiana.

Dr. Robert A. Thomas is Director of Loyola’s Center for Environmental Communications; email is rathomas@loyno.edu

This Column ran in the Op/Ed section of the Times Picayune on page B-5 on 7-30-07

Stay Local: Curb Side Recycling, Thanks to Phoenix 

Will Lavender, Phoenix Recycling

Phoenix Recycling owners David McDonough and Steven O’Connor are committed to the local economy and environment, making their company one of the most ecologically exciting businesses in the Greater New Orleans area today. Office chatter these days among early adopters of the curbside service is about the reliability as well as the expanded types of papers, plastics, and metals that Phoenix collects. The free, but limited recycling provided by the city pre-Katrina did not.
It may come as a surprise that Phoenix Recycling has been operating since 1991. McDonough. After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1989, McDonough moved back to New Orleans and was puzzled at the lack of recycling options. He began making plans to start his own recycling company, before learning that the City of New Orleans had began itsown. Phoenix switched its focus to commercial recycling.
Shortly before Hurricane Katrina, McDonough followed his ex-wife and children to Atlanta. After the storm, during a visit to New Orleans for Jazzfest, McDonough had dinner with Steven O’Connor, again discussing the lack of recycling options in New Orleans. After sending out a few emails to test the waters, and receiving very positive responses, McDonough decided to commute to New Orleans, and Phoenix began its residential recycling service.
Business has been booming for Phoenix ever since. In fact, it has been so overwhelming that McDonough and O’Connor have been riding the trucks themselves in order to keep up. Phoenix has the support and cooperation of the City of New Orleans and the Sanitation Department. Although some of private waste haulers, such as SDT and Richard’s, accidentally picked up the recycling bins as the program started, they have also been responsive in the wake of such large-scale support for the recycling program.
That’s not to say there haven’t been some larger setbacks. Phoenix, with only two trucks for the residential routes and one for the commercial, purchased a used curbside truck, which turned out to be a costly mistake. The truck spent much more time with the mechanic than on the street, explaining why Phoenix has been spotted making pickups in rented vehicles. There has also been some skepticism from residents who received free recycling services from the city before the storm, and are now paying monthly fees to a private company which then sells those same materials. In the month of August, Phoenix’s residential program picked up twenty tons of materials and grossed only $567. This figure does not include the cost of transporting these materials to the closest sorting facility in Baton Rouge.
Phoenix Recycling has big plans for the future. While the commercial side of Phoenix runs on a traditional business model, the residential side is less conventional. McDonough and O’Connor plan to gather as much material as possible, and expand the service as quickly as possible. The greater the number of customers, the less the monthly fee will be. Prices will lower as break-even points are reached.
Phoenix would also like to build their own sorting facility here in New Orleans. This would also lower the cost of residential pickup, saving the company the expenses of transporting the materials to a Baton Rouge material recovery facility. A local sorting facility would also provide more Phoenix jobs and a manned dropoff center. While unmanned dropoff centers have proven to be dangerous (toxic materials and even loaded guns have been found in these unsupervised sites), a staffed dropoff center would allow the public to recycle normally difficult items, such as fluorescent light bulbs and used automobile oil filters.
More than just a recycling service, Phoenix would like to be an educational and environmental resource, as well as supporting and recognizing other people and organizations that are doing similar things. As soon as there are established options, all the trucks in the Phoenix stable will run on biodiesel (see http://www.nobifuel.com/ for more information). “There are many progressive things happening in the waste management business right now,” says McDonough,”and we’d like to bring some of those things to New Orleans.”
Price for residential service is $15 per month, with a $1 discount for members of neighborhood associations. See http://www.phoenixrecyclingnola.com for a sign up sheet, a route map and schedule, a materials list, and a description of the service. Contact Phoenix through phoenix.recycling@gmail.com or at (504)914-0739.

A Space for Peace

By Laura Pavicevic-Johnston

Uncle Lionel’s token wristwatch glistens from the top of his hand as he keeps beat with the Blind Boys of Alabama at St. Augustines.  Hours later, white, red, yellow and black flash in blurs of buoyant color as the dancers of the Kombuka African Drum and Dance Company spin to a mad drum beat.
Such was the scene at the Congo Square Rhythm Festival held on Sunday, September 30th.  The festival brought together musicians, dance collectives, poets, chefs, storytellers and people in a whirl of positive energy.
“When you hear music and perform it transforms you.  It’s seemingly magical, but science proves it too.  Something changes in you,” says Ausettua Amor Amenkum, a performer with the Kombuka Collective who has organized the event in the past.  Get to know Ausettua and you will be moved by her grace, her knowledge, and the power behind what she says.  Her hair, if let out, would likely root her to Mother Earth.  She speaks with some gravel in her voice, “When you perform, that space has been made better.”
In the early days of New Orleans, Congo Square exemplified this transition.  Previously swamp lands on the fringe of town, it was a place where African slaves were allowed to come one day a week—largely unsupervised—to make music, dance and trade.  Ausettua explains “Through all that exchange, Congo Square was significant to New Orleans as a space for peace.”  This year, the festival kicked off at St. Augustine’s Cathedral with a special guest appearance from the Grammy award-winning Blind Boys of Alabama.  It was my first time in the cathedral, and as I listened to the Priest, I was also elevated by the sight before me: white people in fancy suits, black people in fancy suits, black people in African prints, white people in African prints, punks covered with neck tattoos, babies and a few people so old they probably couldn’t see any of it.  Then again, seeing wasn’t really necessary, because the energy and the sound could take you anywhere.
Amenkum sees significance in that cultural exchange as well.  “Back in the 17-1800’s, when Louisiana was forming, you know it was so harsh.  It was rough on the Europeans, rough on the Africans, and rough on the Native Americans.  If it hadn’t been for all those people coming together they wouldn’t have survived,” she says.  “There was institutionalized racism, yeah, but daily life dictated that you got along.”
During the sermon, as the Priest lamented the woes of New Orleans, I wondered if and how this vibrant energy could be used as a tool.  “Music and art help you to tolerate those problems without being hopeless,” says Ausettua Amenkum.  “It is the culture that shows you there’s still a way.” As she speaks she radiates that same powerful energy that can be seen in her dance.  “Through that unity, through respect for cultures and preservation, through dancing, and good food, we can pull New Orleans to a better place than it was before.”
Her conviction leaves me doubtless that the soul of our city can comfort the world.  And if not, Sunday at the Square elevated me and left me with a deeper understanding of where this unique spirit comes from.  Events like this can’t explain the ever growing problems of our city, but they can explain why we all stay, and show us how we can thrive.
Thanks to organizations like the Jazz and Heritage Foundation, the Congo Square Foundation and countless other preservation, dance and music associations throughout our city—not to mention independent artists—New Orleans culture is guarded, preserved, and most importantly, made accessible.  Life here isn’t about watching a show- it’s about feeling that show and giving some energy, zest and dance back to that performer.  I think we do it here better than anyone.
A fortune teller on Jackson Square once told me that people who drink the water in New Orleans can’t leave because Marie Laveau put something in the river.  Perhaps, but I think it’s even deeper than that.  There is a soul here that is older than all of us and makes itself known through music and dance; that positive expression has the power to change a space and those in it.  That power makes this place better.

 Margaret Hornick
Ted’s Mom

Bard College at Simon’s Rock seems an unlikely place for a course entitled “New Orleans/Katrina/New Orleans?” to be offered. The college sits at 760 feet above sea level, nestled in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts, where serious weather usually means snow, not Category 3 hurricanes. But Professors Chris Coggins, of the College’s Geography Department, and Philip Mabry, a Sociologist, had an idea for an interdisciplinary, learning experience. As they describe the course, it “examines the intertwining histories of the people of New Orleans, the river upon whose banks they dwell, and how the wetlands and river channels of Southern Louisiana have both giventhe city its life and now threaten to take it away.” Part of what the course’s thirteen students - some as young as 16, as Simon’s Rock is the nation’s only “early college” which routinely admits students after their second year of high school - signed on for, in addition to readings on geographical and environmental history, is service-learning. This will take place October 7th - 13th when, in collaboration with the Broadmoor Improvement Association, the students will design and implement an urban garden prototype, which must provide a replicable model in a publicly accessible space.

On September 14th, the class and interested community members listened as guest-lecturer Mark Fischetti, a journalist and editor at Scientific American, spoke on “The Katrina Solution: Preventing the Next Disaster,” Fischetti gained sudden prominence shortly after Katrina struck when an enterprising CNN reporter unearthed a 2001 Scientific American article by Fischetti entitled “Drowning New Orleans.” The article documented that, contrary to official pronouncements by the Bush Administration, a storm of Katrina’s magnitude, following its devastating path, had been predicted nearly a decade before. Fischetti’s article reported the work of LSU scientists who, as early as 1996, had created computer models of possible storm paths and their consequences; he also reported that the State of Louisiana had proposed Coast 2050, its first large-scale attempt at restoration of the wetlands which buffer the coast, in 1998. That night, his lecture included satellite photographs which dramatized the loss of wetlands and barrier islands in the Gulf Coast, the failure of levees, and the damage which remains unrepaired. But it also provided possible solutions, including – the one Fischetti favors – an extended series of gates and rebuilt barrier islands along the disintegrating coastline. He emphasized that engineering solutions do exist, and cited the example of the Netherlands, which committed twenty-five years and billions of dollars to building such gates after the country was inundated in the 1950s. But, he cautioned, a unified approach among the affected areas and sustained political will are essential to the achievement of lasting solutions.

Meanwhile, Mabry and Coggins who grew up in Florida and did his own graduate work at LSU are preparing their class to join one of the many impromptu partnerships of neighborhood organizations, migrant labor, student volunteers, church service groups, and others who engage in the daily work of rebuilding. They come from all walks of life and all parts of the country, and they are drawn together by the still-palpable magic of a once-great city and the everyday heroism of its determined citizens.

        Aaron Viles

                   Gulf Restoration Network      

Crime, schools, healthcare, levees, insurance, corruption.  Crescent city citizens have a lot to worry about as we go through our daily lives; at least if we care about the sustainability of the city we love.  It’s enough to send you into the nearest bar or realtor’s office.  As we labor through the sweet spot of hurricane season, let me underscore one more worry that may have slipped your mind:  our coast. Yeah, you know we are losing our coastal wetlands and you may even know that we lose a football field’s worth every 45 minutes.  You know wetlands are the reason we’ve got famous seafood.  Did you know we can blame the Corps of Engineers and the oil companies for the loss of the wetlands?  Yeah, I thought so.  How about this, did you know we lost 217 square miles of wetlands due to the overactive hurricane season of 2005?  And that’s about half of what scientists had predicted, before August 2005, would take place over a 50-year period from 2000 to 2050, even though they had factored storms into their model?  And how about that every three-four miles of healthy wetlands that a storm travels over knocks down storm surge by a foot? Add all those factoids together, and that’s some bad math for New Orleans and Louisiana’s coastal communities. At my organization, the Gulf Restoration Network, we have a saying: “Protect our wetlands, protect ourselves.” Unfortunately, protecting and restoring these wetlands is a job that’s beyond gutting houses and putting up sheetrock.  A few church groups from the Midwest aren’t really going to be able to make a dent in this one.  We need to put the Mississippi River, and its fresh water and sediment, to work.  We need the river to sustain and rebuild our coast.  That’s big engineering. That’s big expense. That’s the federal government and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (gulp). Louisiana coastal experts and the Corps have developed and are further developing the plans to sustain the coast.  But plans are cheap – it’s the actual projects and engineering that run to $50 billion.  About two billion dollars in projects would be authorized by the current Water Resources Development Act (WRDA, say “WurDuh” if you want to sound like a D.C. insider).  The problem dear reader, is that in a “Hail Mary” to recapture the right, President Bush has threatened to veto WRDA, citing its expense.  He says pork, we say future of our region. Of course he also once said he would “do whatever it takes” to make New Orleans and South Louisiana rise again.We’re faced with a significant political challenge that despite hard work and the best of intentions (let alone federally marked cash in the freezer, a phone number on the DC Madame’s speed dial, and a staggering road home shortfall) Louisiana’s congressional delegation won’t be able to tackle on their own.  We need help from elsewhere.  We need your friends and family who think you’re crazy for living here (but clamoring for your guest room during Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest) to clue in their members of Congress and remind the President of his pledge.  Head on over to our website, www.healthygulf.org, and help us Flood Washington, not our coast.  Now’s the time to act, as Congress is just getting back from their August recess and will either pass WRDA in the Senate and work to override the President’s veto, or will add bright red exclamation points to a big worry on the Crescent City’s ever-longer list. Aaron Viles is the campaign director of the Gulf Restoration Network, a New Orleans-based network of groups and individuals dedicated to protecting and restoring the valuable natural resources of the Gulf of Mexico.  

Neighborhood volunteers of all ages joined in for this Central City tree planting effort, encouraging creation of a landscaped area. The planting is on the Neutral Ground in front of the Berean Community Center on Felicity Street as guided by Parkway Partners. One of the neighbors regularly waters the trees by pulling a hose across the street. Photos courtesy of Parkway Partners.

By Anne Atkinson

Parkway Partners

It’s all part of Parkway Partners’ plan to “ReLeaf New Orleans,” which lost about 70% of its urban canopy to Katrina and the subsequent floods. Neighbors who band together with plans to put at least ten trees between the sidewalk and the street in their neighborhoods can receive free trees, planting oversight and maintenance instructions from the non-profit organization, which is working in partnership with the New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways to reforest the area.Katrina and the flooding killed about 50,000 trees on public lands and an additional 200,000 in private landscapes. The ReLeaf New Orleans effort focuses on replacing neutral ground trees on major traffic corridors with the assistance of volunteers under the direction of professional arborists, and on replacing street trees in surrounding neighborhoods by working through neighborhood associations and organizing residents.A group of volunteers called “Tree Troopers” will guide many of the plantings. These volunteers received 12 hours of training from the State Urban Forester, Dan Gill and New Orleans arborists. Tree Troopers are active in tree-planting projects throughout the city.Tree-planting season in southeast Louisiana runs from mid-October through March, and this year, Parkway Partners is stepping up its Neighborhood ReLeaf efforts by promoting the free trees program early. Residents who want to plant trees between the sidewalk and street in front of their homes or businesses are urged to contact their neighborhood associations, who can work with Parkway Partners to secure the trees and schedule plantings, or to contact Parkway Partners directly. Residents who receive the trees are instructed by trained volunteers during the planting and are provided with tree care instructions. In return, they must commit to watering, mulching and weeding the trees until they are established.“We want to plant as many trees as quickly as possible in the right season,” said Parkway Partners’ Executive Director, Jean Fahr. “We are providing motivation for citizens to connect with their neighbors in planning for tree replacement. Funding for this project is provided under a grant, so those who apply after the grant is exhausted will be wait-listed.”Most “street to sidewalk” areas are relatively small and cannot accommodate trees that grow much taller than 20 feet. The New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways has approved a list of trees for street to sidewalk planting that includes redbud, fringe, holly (deciduous and evergreen), yaupon, silver bell, iron wood (beech), spruce, japanese magnolia and sweet bay magnolia. Availability and price will determine which trees will be available for giveaway. The trees’ trunks will be one-and-a-half-inches in diameter or larger.So far the ReLeaf New Orleans initiative has resulted in the planting of more than 2000 trees, mainly within four major corridors: Elysian Fields Avenue, Martin Luther King Boulevard, Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard and Maple Street, as well as surrounding streets. The next corridors for which Parkway Partners seeks funding include: Broad Street, St. Claude Avenue and Claiborne Avenue and surrounding neighborhoods.Other ways to support the ReLeaf New Orleans initiative include volunteering to help plant neutral grounds or to “sponsor” a tree in honor of up to ten people.For more information about how to get started ReLeafing your neighborhood, sponsoring trees or volunteering for ReLeaf New Orleans plantings, contact JoAnn Albrecht, Parkway Partners’ ReLeaf New Orleans Program Director, at jalbrecht@parkwaypartnersnola.org or call 504-620-2224.

Parkway Partners works to improve green space for all New Orleanians as it has for the past 25 years.

“On the Level about Our Levees”  
 
WHEN:

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15TH, 6:00PM-8:00PM

WHERE :

MUSICIANS UNION HALL 2401 ESPLANADE AVE. NEW ORLEANS , LA. 70119

WHAT:

Levee protection is a major issue facing post-Katrina New Orleans.

      On Wednesday August 15th, New Orleans communities are welcome to attend NPN’s forum, “On the Level about Our Levees” where you will have the opportunity to meet with the governing bodies of levee and flood protection in New Orleans.

Guests Include:

Army Corps of Engineers

Levee Board

Sewerage and Water Board

NEPA - National Environmental Policy Act

Please email NPN at mario@npnnola.com

Or call 504-940-2207/2202 with any questions.  

Two Years Post-Katrina:

Students Release Public School Evaluation

Unveil Their Design for “Green” Public School Restrooms

A Challenge to School Officials: How About Some Toilet Paper!

New Orleans, LA - Last July, twenty school children, ages 10 - 17, staged a brave news conference outside a storm-ravaged school. They called themselves Rethink, short for Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools. Their message to administrators: We want a voice in rebuilding the school system. After all, who deserves a voice more than the customers who use the schools?

In the year since, Rethink has completed an evaluation of the school system from the student perspective and attacked one of that system’s most demoralizing problems: the disgusting condition of school bathrooms - yes, bathrooms. Frequently lacking both soap or toilet paper, they are so notoriously dirty and dangerous in some schools that kids “hold it in” all day, rather than risk a visit. With support from professional architects, Rethink has collaborated with talent from YA/YA, the inner-city guild for young artists, to design the first green public school bathroom in America. Global Green, the renowned national non-profit dedicated to environmental sustainability and the greening of public schools, is looking right now for a strong New Orleans public school candidate to receive a grant up to $75,000 to build the bathroom.

Rethinkers will preside at their second annual news conference on July 20 at 10:00 am at the offices they share with YA/YA, at 2831 Marais Street, just off St. Claude Ave. in the Marigny. At the press conference, Rethinkers will:

• Release the Rethink report evaluating New Orleans public schools from the student perspective.
• Unveil Rethink’s design and maintenance plan for the city’s first “green” public school bathroom, one that turns an emblem of disrespect for school children into a sign that New Orleans is not just catching up but outpacing other school systems in striving for excellence.

Challenge New Orleans public school officials to put an end forever to filthy bathrooms in poor repair - and to think green. RSD superintendent Paul Vallas has publicly pledged to repair bathrooms this summer. School officials from all three public school systems have been invited to the news conference.

Note: Great photo ops here. The plan will be unveiled against a zany-looking life-sized bathroom stall, constructed by YA/YA artists to represent the kind of bathrooms most New Orleans kids know all too well. Eight-foot-high, hand-painted posters on the bathroom theme will also be on display.

Rethink partners for the 2007 summer program are: YA/YA, New Orleans Outreach, Concordia Planners and Architects, Esopus Creek Communications, Global Green USA, Tin Foil Media and Spirit in Action.

For more information, call: Jane Wholey at 504.338.4097

Click here for more on “green” bathrooms

Click here for the Rethink print coverage links

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