Voices of the Gulf

It is 6 am on February 17, 2013, and I can hear the birds outside the window of my hotel room, inviting in the morning with their song. Before the day is through they, and the world, will know that we mean it when we say that we will not allow the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline to finish its slither across the length of our country, in order to pipe toxic tar sand bitumen to China, while risking the planet to do it. [...Read more]

Sort of like OJ Simpson (Yes. I figure he did it), BP "got over" in the US Justice Department's criminal case against them. They didn't win, but they gladly settled for $4 Billion rather than face a full trial with full public disclosure of exactly what happened before, during and after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, 2010. [...Read more]

Good natured New Orleanians may be laughing about Sunday night's blackout during the Super Bowl, as a "now you see how we live" type moment for the rest of the country.  I'm actually feeling pretty PO’ed. Not by the black out, no. I am infuriated by the overblown language that some media makers have used to make hay over a pretty minor inconvenience, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, *ahem*. [...Read more]

On March 25, 1911, a fire caused by a wayward cigarette broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. The workers scrambled to find safety from the life-stealing smoke and flames, and horror descended as they faced the realization that managers of the factory had chained most of the exits to the building over worries of worker theft (a common practice of the day).

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Today in New Orleans, U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance will hear from relatives of the 11 men who died and from other Gulf Coast victims of the 2010 BP Oil Drilling Disaster. [...Read more]

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Over five months since the Texas Brine sinkhole first appeared over the Napoleonville Salt Dome, residents of Bayou Corne, Louisiana continue to struggle to be heard – particularly by Governor Bobby Jindal.

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By Eugene Hickman. My name is Eugene Hickman. My wife and I have been commercial fishermen living in Barataria, Louisiana for 25 years. I also am a United States Coast Guard licensed charter boat captain. I ran a charter boat for a company, in exchange for free housing and a boat slip for my commercial fishing boat on the company's property. On days I didn't have charters I would fish commercially. [...Read more]

In a letter published in today's Advocate, the Vice President of Operations of Texas Brine states that the company's sinkhole in Bayou Corne, LA has caused "no residential property damage." But some Bayou Corne residents disagree, and are posting photos on Facebook to show what they say are residential property damages caused by the ongoing disaster. Residents say they have informed both Texas Brine and local officials of these damages. [...Read more]

As Congress stumbles through an embarrassing year-end game of fiscal brinkmanship, the world continues its slow burn toward unchartered and dangerous territory. It’s a future that threatens us all with more cataclysmic storms, punishing drought, mind-boggling Arctic ice melts, and more ferocious fires and floods. [...Read more]