Louisiana’s Vanishing Coastline

Scientists are calling it the biggest economic and environmental catastrophe facing the US, yet few Americans are even aware of it.

Louisiana is shrinking. In the past 80 years the state has lost 2,000 miles of coastal lands. Even more alarming, though -- scientists predict that in just the next 50 years the better part of the southeastern region of the Bayou State will be underwater, along with half of the country’s oil refineries, a third of our total gas and oil supply, a port in use by 31 states, and the homes of close to 2 million people.

Louisiana has a master plan to restore its coast, but so far the state, the fossil fuel industry and environmentalists are deadlocked in a legal battle over what steps should be taken, and who will foot the bill.