Despite extreme heat being the No. 1 cause of death among weather events, more deadly than hurricanes, or floods and tornadoes combined, institutional protections from it often fall short.
While the country is not expected to halve its emissions as hoped, Louisiana is nowhere near being on track to meet emission reduction goals laid out in Gov. John Bel Edwards’ Climate Action Plan.
The state’s Climate Action Plan aims for a 26-28% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2005 levels by 2025, and 40-50% by 2030. But emissions aren’t budging.
Source: The Advertiser
Homewood’s primary effect is during smaller storms and is localized to the banks of the Vermilion River. That caps the number of homes likely spared from flooding.
Over the next month, The Current will host a series of Listening Sessions with folks on the front lines. We want to bring together people with different, even opposing, views to dig deeper into this important discussion.
LCG is pursuing five massive detention projects to address flooding in Lafayette Parish. One project would convert a sugar cane field into a 200-acre pond. Detention ponds hold water during storm events, slowing flows to the river and other drainage channels. In the floods 2016, water overflowed out of drainage channels and into thousands of homes.
LCG made public necessity declarations for five parcels, freezing them from commercial development while studies are completed. KLFY reports that public works officials have reviewed 90 sites, narrowing the field to 20, including the five currently under consideration.
A generational challenge has no easy solutions. But there are opportunities to pivot using what we already have at our disposal.
Fighting climate change takes a global effort — one that we are simply choosing not to participate in.
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