Drilling for oil on Rainey wildlife refuge in Vermilion Parish?
Not since director Robert Flaherty, in his 1948 film Louisiana Story, depicted the coming of the oil and gas industry to the Louisiana swamp as an event of elemental beauty and Cajun prosperity has the oil rig looked so good to environmentalists. But the blinking Christmas tree lights of offshore rigs might just be the ticket to fill the depleted coffers of America’s most prominent green organization, the National Audubon Society, and repair the damaged wetlands of one of the oldest wildlife refuges in the country, the Paul J. Rainey Sanctuary in Vermilion Parish.
The 26,000-acre Rainey refuge sits on the western edge of Vermilion Bay. Acquired by Audubon in 1924, Rainey was the site of oil and gas production including canal dredging until the last lease expired in 1999, according to the Times-Picayune. In 2000, Audubon bid good riddance to energy exploration on Rainey's soil. However, exploration canals took their toll on the property. Saltwalter infiltration into the marshes that make up Rainey contributed to coastal land loss, and then Hurricane Rita heavily damaged the sanctuary. Audubon had to take a good long look at the costs of coastal restoration.
“It’s getting to the point where there is so much damage, and it just costs so much money to contain the damage,” G. Paul Kemp, director of Audubon’s Gulf Coast Initiative, told the T-P. “We know we’re fighting a losing battle.”
And so Audubon is now considering tapping the energy resources beneath Rainey in order to pay for restoration costs. This is the same National Audubon Society that has vehemently opposed drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, off the coast of Florida and California and in various wilderness locations across the nation.
Adversity makes strange bedfellows indeed. Read the entire story, from the Times-Picayune, here.
... written by caribousteaks , January 04, 2010 - 07:44 pm
Isn't it ironic, nay pure perfectly hypocritical that so called "environmentalists" are more than ok with drilling for oil and gas on their own lands, indeed for MONEY of all things, but when it comes to the industry or a state doing the same, "oh no, kill off all the animals and destroy the pristine wilderness". What a total bunch of lying hypocrites! TYPICAL GREENIE HYPOCRITES! For the record 45 national wildlife refuges across the nation have active oil and gas production on them. 108 have had production on them since the Refuge system began. All produce oil and gas in complete harmony with nature even as I type.
... written by J , January 04, 2010 - 09:18 pm
Hmm, tough situation. Turning to an industry that dominates the state and already operates in wetland areas across the state is a sensible route to consider. Oil companies can directionally drill now and would not have to dredge canals straight through marsh like they did decades ago.
But the comparison to ANWR is an invalid one. The Rainey refuge is already degraded while ANWR is in pristine shape and WOULD BE degraded due to oil activities. ANWR is a biodiversity hotspot in that corner of the world. Anyone who thinks that a network of oil rigs and pipelines would not disrupt that isolated gem is sorely misinformed. The conditions are vastly different. Just because we do it in Louisiana with relatively low impact does not mean it's the same everywhere.
... written by NORTHSIDIAN SHOTGUN , January 05, 2010 - 02:26 am
WE HAVE WELCOMED AND ACCEPTED THE FACT THAT OIL $ GAS STATE REVENUE SURE IS A BETTER STATE PROP THAN SHRIMPING OR CRAWFISHING REVENUE. ALAS, WE WILL SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE HAVE TO FACE UP TO THE PRO $ CON, WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT, "OIL AND GAS ENERGY FUELS OR THE "STRIPED TAIL DARTER AND THE "CAPRA SNAIL.
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