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John Bel Edwards on Environment
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Mississippi River diversion: backbone to coastal restoration
The candidates discussed what they would do as governor to repair Louisiana's eroding coast. Each one backed a $50 billion, 50-year master plan devised by Gov. Jindal's administration to slow land loss by diverting the Mississippi River's mud and water
into injured estuaries. The idea is to restore the river's delta-building capacity.Fishermen oppose river diversions because they would alter water conditions and likely make it difficult to harvest shrimp, crabs and oysters where fresh water is
flushed into estuaries.
"Simply put, diversions are the backbone" to coastal restoration, Edwards said. But he said projects need to be weighed against socio-economic factors.
The four candidates did not propose large-scale new mechanisms for
funding the enterprise, even as candidates predicted the cost of coastal restoration would reach $100 billion. Edwards said he would seek to get the federal government to do more to fix Louisiana's problems. "This is a national priority," he said.
Source: Associated Press on 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial debate
, Aug 19, 2015
Strengthen environmental enforcement for clean air
Edwards indicated support for the following principles regarding the environment.- Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
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Relax standards on federal lands to allow increased recreational usage.
- Encourage further development and use of alternative fuels to reduce pollution.
Source: 2006 State Congressional National Political Awareness Test
, Nov 1, 2006
Page last updated: Apr 17, 2020
