Accidental Planet Killing: So, These New Orleans Wetlands Actually ARE Good for Something…

Eco-Chick.com happened upon a very interesting old news article on the New York Times website. The self-congratulatory article, published in 1910 and titled “NEW ORLEANS’S PLANS FOR GREAT SUBURBS; Over a Million Acres of Marsh-Land Within Its Limits to be So Converted”, tells of plans to ‘reclaim’ this ‘unproductive’ land for use as gardens, homes, hamlets and towns.

The article proclaims the benefits of draining this land, including fewer alligators lurking around and less room for mosquitoes to breed. They even went so far as to promise better views from your car window driving into the city – because, you know, concrete is so much more beautiful than marsh lands.

Eco-Chick notes that the destruction of these wetlands may well have had something to do with the damage New Orleans suffered at the hands of Hurricane Katrina, considering that wetlands help protect the mainland against storm surges. They dug up this quote from the NOAA:

Low lying coastal areas in and around the Gulf Coast have always been susceptible to storm surge from hurricanes, but the situation has worsened over time as protective coastal wetlands have disappeared due to land subsidence and human intervention.

It’s just another example of how ‘progress’ has damaged the earth. We are sold so many bottles of snake oil for ‘the good of mankind’.

Link [Eco-Chick] + [New York Times]

Photo credit: Flickr user Prince Roy

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