by James York
People everywhere face an uncertain future due to climate change. That is especially true in south Louisiana, where the combination of sea level rise and disappearing coastal wetlands will force many residents to leave within decades. It is undeniable that most of the damage to this area is due to oil and gas exploration and production, and it is undeniable that we are facing a $50 billion budget shortfall just to fund the megaprojects that are supposed to provide some protection against coastal erosion.
In this light, the economic development statistics offered by the proponents of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline are absurd. In exchange for destroying 150 acres of forested wetland and “temporarily impacting” 450 more to build 163 miles of oil pipeline through the Atchafalaya Basin, Our vehemently pro-oil state government has we are being offered only $1.8 million per year in taxes paid to the state and 12 permanent jobs. While the pipeline will continue to make money for its owners and funders year after year, we the people will see nothing for this damage to the wetlands. Pipelines reduce the wetlands’ ability to protect cities and infrastructure from flooding due to hurricanes and irreparably change the hydrology of the affected area, damaging wildlife habitat. We also face the possibility of an oil spill that would threaten the drinking water of some 300,000 people and one of the most productive wetlands in the world, the heart of our $1 billion per year seafood industry. With that in mind, one would expect a reasonable government to say”no” to an obviously bad deal, but in Louisiana we are not so lucky. Our vehemently pro-oil state government has done the opposite (even with a Democratic Party governor).They have given Energy Transfer Partners, the oil corporation behind the hated pipeline, free reign to build despite ongoing legal challenges and violence by local sheriffs that they have hired for off-duty work as private security.
The state government has introduced new legislation in the past three months that pins felony terrorism charges on water protectors who are exercising their first amendment right to peacefully protest. These brave people of the L’eau Est La Vie (Water is Life) camp are living near the pipeline construction and standing up for all of our right to say NO to these projects that could damage our communities forever. Their work can be followed at nobbp.org.