Billy Nungesser: Climate pessimist

Plenty of interesting points in this story.  A lot of people in it are mad at Billy. Congressman Garret Graves is mad.  The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority's Chip Kline is mad. State rep Jerome Zeringue is mad.  I don't really know but it's likely he is exaggerating the impact the Barataria diversion will have on fisheries.  But he's also probably not entirely wrong.  There will be negative impacts. The fact that the CPRA plans for the state to spend millions of dollars mitigating those impacts is itself an acknowledgement of that.  

Frankly, Graves and Kline and Zeringue come off pretty arrogant here. They call Billy a "clown." They smugly accuse him of consulting "palm readers in Jackson Square" and making up "his own facts" that contradict what "scientists and engineers have verified."  But that line only makes sense if we assume Billy is arguing with them over the science.  Instead, this looks more like he is performing a political analysis.  And in that light, he actually has some valid points. For example,

Nungesser relayed many of these complaints to supporters at a meeting at the Covington Country Club late last month. In an impassioned speech, Nungesser said he thinks the diversions were conceived because former Gov. Bobby Jindal thought the innovative projects would help him run for president. Graves was Jindal’s CPRA head at the time.

He told the Covington audience that he got a “standing ovation” in Houma after he “called out Chip Kline,” according to a recording.

“Chip Kline texted me and called me a clown,” Nungesser said. “But I’m a clown that ain’t on the take.”

Okay well we won't go so far as to assume that Billy ain't also "on the take." It's just a possibility that has come up far too often.  We should not even dispute too heavily the notion that he is something of a "clown." But we have no doubt he's correct in suspecting his opponents have unsavory ulterior motives also. And we shouldn't discount his criticism out of hand.  

Besides, there is a certain internal logic to Billy's take on the future of the coast. He's always been pretty cynical in his approach to that. But that doesn't mean he's wrong. I mean, regardless of whether the Barataria plan happens I sure wouldn't bet against this prediction.

 Nungesser, in an interview, said he’s “tired of walking on eggshells about” the plan. He said the money doesn’t belong to Kline: “He’s not Jesus Christ.”

“I don’t care if I get elected to anything ever again. This is the biggest fraud ever pulled over our eyes,” Nungesser said. “There’s nothing to say this diversion will have any impact for 50 years. In 50 years we’re going to be having the Grand Isle fishing rodeo in Baton Rouge.”