What did she say? That was the question most often whispered among the standing room only crowd that packed the NOCCA theatre last week for the mayoral forum entitled “Flood Risk and Adapting to Coastal and Environmental Change.”

Candidates Desiree Charbonnet and LaToya Cantrell spoke a lot but generally failed to impress the audience. They did fine calling for reforms at the Sewage & Water Board, better storm water management under the Urban Water Plan, strong levees and support for the state’s plan for coastal survival.

Mayoral candidates LaToya Cantrell, left, and Desiree Charbonnet.

Of course, that was all low hanging fruit in a city just weeks away from a major flooding disaster caused in part by a S&WB scandal.

But when it came to addressing climate change they left the audience troubled. Almost every question on warming and rising seas led to another discourse on improving drainage or higher levees — even improving the work force to do that work.

The candidates apparently didn’t get what that educated audience already knew:  Without addressing the causes of warming, none of those other issues can be solved.

Click here to read more: The Times-Picayune.

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