Dead zones are beginning to show up within the coast of Louisiana as well as offshore due to heavy diversions of Mississippi River water to help push back intrusions of oil from the recent spill in the Gulf. It gives us more reason than ever to insist that over-fertilization of farms along the river be firmly stopped for good.
The most recent dead zone addition this past week was in the Chandeleur Sound which could not have been caused by infected water flowing through the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was caused by water being diverted through other channels upriver to combat the challenge from the Gulf.
Don’t get us wrong. Diversion of the fresh water is a good thing, necessary to help stop the erosion that is destroying our coast. But allowing the fertilizer to overflow into and down the river from the midwest is a bad thing in that it robs the oxygen from our waterways which kills our fish population.
Putting the two things together could destroy our commercial and sport fishing industries. State and federal governments must get together and end this dual operation that is causing so much harm.
The federal government must find a way to eliminate the overflow of fertilizer. And state and federal governments must proceed with plans to divert clean fresh water and sediment from the river that will build up our wetlands and save our coast.
One of the main purposes of government is to keep our infrastructure intact so our private sector can develop it in a way that will be beneficial to our livelihoods. Our governor should lead the way in getting it done before it is too late.
Campaigns this year more negative than ever
It used to be that Louisiana was a rather peaceful state politically. Of course, that changed during the Long years when the liberals gained control and started stirring up the lower and middle income voters to look out for their “rights.”
Then along came Russel and his almost universal popularity made things calm again. Plus, John Breaux was a calming influence that brought both sides together like never before.
Now the sides are splitting up again as politics gets more partisan than ever. Have you ever seen campaigns as negative against the opponents as those being waged for Congress in the current election?
More people will probably go to the polls to vote against candidates than for them this time around. We’ve come to a rare state of insufferable partisanship that doesn’t unify the people toward good government.
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