A Times-Picayune feature on Congressman Bobby Jindal called the leading gubernatorial candidate “a policy wonk.” But this moniker seems incorrect from one perspective: based on the issues he focuses on, he may as well be running for governor of Nebraska, or of any other state struggling with national problems like crime and ethics. He avoids the problem that threatens parts of the state’s existence.
On his campaign Web site, Jindal does not mention the phrase “flood protection.”
With Katrina still dominating the southern Louisiana landscape after two years, this negligence remains extraordinary. According to the best scientists and policy experts, the threat has become clear: If the state does not begin to institute strong measures in the next few years, then it will let portions of the state fall into the Gulf of Mexico. The Crescent City will become more vulnerable to hurricanes.
Dr. Ivor van Heerden, director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, has known about the threat for years. In an infamous interview with PBS’ “NOVA” a year before Katrina, he accurately predicted the devastation wrought from a New Orleans hurricane.
Two years after the levees broke, van Heerden’s most important insight remains his most basic one: solutions do exist. The city and region can be protected from Katrina-like storms through a difficult yet achievable multi-pronged approach.
This strategy requires strengthening both natural barriers and levees. Wetlands and barrier islands, destroyed by a variety of economic and ecological forces, provide more than scenic landscapes. These natural barriers prevent storms from destroying the populated areas of the state by decreasing surge. The state can reconstruct the barriers with funding and political will. But the word “wetlands” does not appear once on the Jindal campaign site.
Since a powerful storm may maintain strength past those barriers, the state needs a system of Category 5 or greater levees. But the state must fight for more than just higher protection. A legitimate system must contain oversight of the Army Corps of Engineers, who provided fatally shoddy maintenance pre-Katrina. This shift in federal, state and local relationships requires innovative boldness from the governor. Without strong, system-changing leadership, the levees can’t earn the citizenry’s trust.
Jindal has emerged as the only candidate with a shot at providing this leadership. None of the three other major candidates – Walter Boasso, John Georges and Foster Campbell – have the experience to effect such great change. Jindal has co-sponsored certain necessary but insufficient patchwork flood protection efforts in Congress.
But from reading his Web site and public comments, it becomes clear he relegates flood protection to a lower level of importance, below issues like overspending. He shows no evidence that he will expend his political will on fixing the problem that now destroys part of the state.
Perhaps the wonky candidate doesn’t agree with Dr. van Heerden when the scientist declares there are “solutions.”
In a perverse way, he may prove himself right. With a victory, Jindal’s view on the issue may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
At that point, there will be no solutions.
