Question for Louisiana: Will enough coast be restored to justify the cost? | The Times-Picayune
Louisiana has a 50-year master plan to restore its coast. (by Todd Masson, NOLA.com)
Louisiana has assembled pages of numbers justifying its 50-year, $92 billion master plan for coastal survival. Except what is becoming the most important one. Let me explain.
Last month a man in the front row at Western Michigan University had paid attention as I outlined the natural, economic and human resources at risk to the nation if Louisiana’s coast continues to drown. And he had taken notes as I described the state’s 50-year, $92 billion plan for coastal survival – as well as the serious challenges to its success posed by sea level rise caused by global warming.
Then he had some questions.
“I think this is terribly important, but does it make much sense to spend $92 billion on a program if much of what you build by 2065 or so will be flooded by 2100,” he began.
“Is there a cost-benefit analysis for continuing projects, or should you be spending that money on pulling back now?”
They were the same questions posed by audiences this year from Colorado to Virginia, Pennsylvania to Montana, Illinois to Washington — well, even in New Orleans.
I couldn’t provide an answer, because right now the state doesn’t have one. And that’s a big mistake.
