announcer: on this episode of "earth focus," lessons learned during hurrice katrinare being puto the tt along e cst of losiana. so predictew orlns will be suerged byhe endf this cenry. the gion's surval depds on s abity to apt tolimate cnge. if sucssful, lisiana m provide bluepri for oers arnd the wld. [film advance clicng]

cker: tre were milies here. tre were ds in th street playingootball,ight? the wereeighbo. this house was the candy lady. as ks, we wod come dn andpend ouruarters d si here onhis porcand eat and jusenjoy thatmosphe ofthe commity, rig, and tht went ay justvernig. it ju got wasd away. elicopt whirrin manwe are sing scen like is one toughout e city. iebermando you rember if you told em thatthe leees had oken? bro: i don't reca

specifally, but it washat w orlea is floong. waers: no.it. ocked over em planton their rch la night,uh? mis is somupset wi you. a couplof monthago, we d a rain stm, just ordinary rainstm in soueast louiana. it s one of the days tt we thoht, "heyjust a ltle rain but low ad behol the ci flooded.he draine sy was not up to par. tuer: we led hurrines as kidsi rememb when e calm me, we wld play t in the ater. itas just other da off froschool, right,ut now

it's terrifng. i's terriing. walters:his is n a hoax ths is rea climatehange is rel, so hodo we li with it? i ink in ts sectn of town, 're srting to underand thatater and lite chae goes hd in nd. johon: neorleans n the st 5 to years hareally taken on great aptation climateesiliencand clate chae. elevaon is onof the maor adaptions thayou sotimes se is thathe hous are raid higher this is t center r the sustnable engement a develoent. wehave rai gards here. help communies how tbuild ra

garden we alsoave a chard. y see ovehere, we havlemons. t us oneff here. ater krina, u had al these tons from e water,o tht went io the so, and that's all er the lower ninth ward and probably a lot in louisiana. evidently, the process of going through the trs to beafruit, idoesn't ome to t fruit. also, we recommenabove-begardens where u can pufresh so to ve you cps that e not tanted witthat poi. wht we've trd to do help th the cmunityo firs edate them becse theyget nfused aut, you ow, is climate ange a pitical issue. iit real? we ju try o give tm the fas. then we try to sw how ey can b advates f how wadapt to at clima. cker: ife don't do methin allhis beau of new oeans th everyby loves,ouristcome dowto e, the'll be lookingt

just water.hat'it. willia: the pl we've reli on bieves th we can ght water, d if yo've er been to a ach when there's a rtide a you thk you c ght wate you willearn that y will le that btle. waggoner: with a climate adaptation plan, you have a wet system and a dry system, so when you need to lift water out, you can do that, but when you ne to let e water , yocan let e water though thasystemnto thse nals a circula it arou e city. wiiams: imeansome peole mighwalk pas here an think, "oh, yh. it's just orgrown grass.no. it's low-lyi

area th has certain vegetion in ithat is e perfect vegetion wheyou want war to absb and be able to ssipate a more gradl rate. mean, itoesn't loolike a t of natur scienc but the's lot o tural sence that goes io it. ggoner:osts lesto have greeinfrastrture becse this is low-maintenance. this is a model of a part of the city as the main draina basin. you ve an unrground stem, e white lis under e eath. the ea was tget the aternto thespipes, tget thatatero the pumps and ush it o. that w the method. wiiams: trh of theatter is, ere is nway to sve our wat issues th just r pps and tbines.t's t enoughit will never be enoh. ggoner:ou know,ecades of dong thwrong ing usuay ki you. wgot our ath rning in005. lliamsif thereas a

poitical ll to ma sure hat thisity seesnother00 ars, would mean ving very butiful, very aesthetic blueways along with greenways throughout the city, us living with water, so that when that next storm comes, because it's going to come--that's a fact-- that water has a place to go other than your cars and your homes and the street. [film advance clicks] reed: at some point after hurricane katrina, people started get really serus about astal iues, andhey strted to ink abourisk reductio protectg people rom floong, togeer with restoraon as onthing th eds to baddresse and s we me up wi this cotal aster an whichs a list of rojectsthat hae been ientificly vetd, and s we ve projes that ddge marial froone ple and pu

it ianother ace to aually bui new mares wherehere's en wat at the ment. on th risk-rection de, we ve extsive sees of levees a floodgas around ome crital coast counities.hese arerojects thawe thi will wo, not wok now, b work in the fute. man: thiis skyla 5478 noember. kolke state's coaal maste pln is a $ billi, 50-yea plani consider mysf an eanograpr and coastal ologist,o i lo at issus le why weink in lisiana, and i ao lookt issues like ow we rebuilcoastal landspe. the rrier isnds are one of the first lines of defense against a storm, right, so notice how this is now pretty much continuous. there's no

channels in the middle of it. this is an example of a restored barrier island. all rht. en you c senew orles, so th's e of the mor post-trina lee improments, sthidea waso basally to ll off ts area to preve a stormurge fro getti to the wer nintward. lees are setimes blt with earth,nd sometes they're built wi concrete, b the coreoint is that ty are al a walthat procts an aa from was anrising waters rom a srm. the ggest varble in ts is seaevel riseif the sl level ri rates are the lownd of th sptrum of at peopl pdict, th you cou rebuild rge are of the ndscape and prove flood otection for lot of pple. if tes aret the hi end, en i think lot of areas wl be lost,ven wi thetate's besefforts.

l rightwell, weome to codrie. e maste plan eds a l of inpu and so e kind owork thai do fee into t parameters thathe tate nee as partf its masr plan. so, younow, i jt wantedo ve you aiew of wt the sa marss around here ok like. you c see thathere's rsh for miles ithat dirtion. mahes pride a loof buffe om storenergy, they're a buffebetween r huma civilition andhe sea, the restorati invols puing sement inta marsh ke this to rse the evation o allow it toetter keep pacwith s levelise and fill inreas

that haveroded sothiss the bua dove stcture, wch is onof the major fldgates ithe morganzto the gf levee systm. with levee, o questi that yohave is who's insid and whis outde the lee syste by drawg this walin the msh, you're chging thenvironme, but yo'ralso setng down series princips of who liv where a the kinds of oices tt these mmunitie facin the yrs aheadsome of which e going be veryvery tou choic.

bert p. quin: th area used tbe lover' lane cause therwas treeall overhe placeyou could getn herend go hidback the, so w'd listeto musicnd hang t with ur girliend. y'al do't md if i s that, h? all ght. i w born anraised rightere, n theall gss rightere. i gss it reresent wre all omy anestors w born anraised and die and a l is buri ov here, s well, to me, means whole bch. comardelle: the land is important to us because it's where our ancestors settled. that's wherare famies are. that's whe the hea of who we ares. it's a sace at we

becomone with alrt p. nain: the dians we in theay of e white man, sohey l sign eaties f more la and mor nd, and that' how we t to er here.he goverent chaseus, so we settleover hee and wahappy, a now mother ture is tting us awy. brnet: thiis my grdparents ony mothe's se, my grndmoth and my andfatr righthere. was raid here my whollife. y. isle d jean charlesas alwaybeen a wonderl place live. t isld didn't actally opeup to thworld fuy, not uil about the ear fiftieshen our ad was blt. was vereasy to ke up in he morni and seermadillo in the yd or opoum or

raccn, you ow, croing the yard whateve whatnotall that h changedecause, th a lot of just beg water w, e trees havdied offwhat you' seeing actuay just a skelen of whait used , you kw? alert p. nuin: to , it ans alst, i gus you ca say, lika familyember hang ncer, yoknowit' being eatenway, younow, whe it's just little b by litt bit getng destred. now,he only ting is,he piecof land is lting lonr than t human dy can.

the onright he is anil fielcanal. ere's one at pass here. tre' one at pass a bit fther, and ere's one thatasses in the ckso you're loing at water saltwat intrusi ming from theipeline nals, anthey desoyed the vegetati that wesed to have.. b, you kn, most othe people wk for thoil comnies. th'rethe one that's putng food d payin the nt and mtgages a stuff likehat, s as muchs you hate tm, youave to ke them. dupreisle de an charl is--

what's theommonsaying?-the canaryn the mi field. 're seeing-ver herewe call relive sea vel riseyou ha the glol sea lel rise, whichs slightbut abou80% of the s level re here i becse of suidenceso we th subsing and y have th globasea leverise at e sameime, soe areinkingy, think i's 3illimete a ear. it esn'sound li muchbut you into yea, 50 yea, and yostart to noti differees when you're alady onlylightly ove the ter likesle de jeanharles. brunetin the beginningit was a slow ocess. iwas real not ally noteable, buthen whener the wer start comg in evemore witit, it got to bmore rad becaue they hadore war comingn nd the ld didn't sta a

chanc so many ople on eir o did makthe decion to go becse of thwater. dena naqn: my damoved of the isld, i wt to s, righ bere i w born beuse he wasn't able get to rk with theoad floong and hneeded to rk, but i amrom th biloxi-ctimacha-octaw ba of isle jean chles, and that's my ritage, at is my dghter's hertage. y know, at'our mily legy. alber p. naqui yaah! [lghter] t all t peoplwho wille namedhurry upfarmer b. a ild was rn,

evrybody wt and vit androught aift. nowt's t appening tnk you f today's sunse. aiden, u want indian name? yes. your na is litt fox. th displacent real, really mada changen our cuure. now weind of le-- ha ha !--likthere arno ndians, ? dre: the ly way tse astal mmunitiewill rvive io the ter 21st centu is to ptect ourlves rom the lf of xico. i realizin 300 yrs, thisill probay be a open war. i mn, the s will ta us all ov. what 'm ting to dwith the lev system,hat i'm tring to do, ibuy oursves tw or 3 gerations.

it's just about impossibleo includthem inta levee sysm. it wod cost pbably $300 million, and it would be nearly imposble because the salt nditionsre so ba u know, build a fod-proteion prect, you ve to he more befits an ost. onehing th's t faored in e cost, ey only look at t cost ofhe homes the st of thbusiness, the frastrucre, but,ou know, do't ow how y put arice ont, buthey do n conside the st of a ole culte. [film advancelicks] [tom-m playin

mardelleas displement epsappeningnd we just fuher sepate our commity,t' just gelost. [men chti] man: tn to theeft. mardell we leard about natnal disaer resience plan coetition,o we submied our pns. we wked to fitith thstate's master pl, and th present it, and igot fund. saders: rit now, t way elocatio typical hpen in the unid stateswe rely an indivual buy-t model, d so, i othewords, someon

receivesome compsation to live sowhere se, but in doinso, we o lose at cutural faic, so wdon' realnow if wcan move people clectivelas a gro cheaper d more eiciently than iividua. comaelle: the's ry lile posite in t form of settleme of peleyou know, gernments just don't do it well.e presend a different mol, communitdesigned mmunitdriven. i ink tha wa, hud loed on th and said,let's try i. let's try a pilotrogram, e ife can fiure out w to do is on a smallescale soe can chge it for" we havso many communies in the u. and abrd that's faci these se clima issue and i thi th's whso many peple are tching, cause it' like, ". can weeally get thiright?" cause know w importt it is r the uture the world to t it rig.

brnet: the's realityhere that ion'ke, butt' somhinghat i ha to facep to beuse, you se i had tgo there d make aecision lee a placthat's alwaybeen me for or 8 generatis,nd that wn't sy to let of, and, in fac in spe of answerg that qstion a w times, it still doesn't maket sy. [film adnce clic] comardel: sohis ishe new prerred sitfor the land. this ishere ourommuty is gonna ve to. 's a autiful ace. to , this i new lifenew birt a sustnable ple. thiis a healthspace.

saders: no we do uerstand thathis is historicly ibal counity, a we also derstandhat poputions havleft thi particur loation ov a perioof time, d thoseolks whore successf in thisroject wl ve an oortunityo constite in theew locaon, but r primarset of beneciaries e the pele living othe isla. we wan to pk up theeople th are livg in thidire enario and ense that ty live mewherehat is se now an into e future comardee: i hope that the tribe wld own t land, a actual, we ort of le a mid ownersp. you kw, the folks wld have ll rightto theiland, buat the se tie, if th were too and want tmove offf it, itould reve back tohe tribeo that waythat land wi be forer saed for t tribe thave. saers: we've g to walk etty finline bwhich we're deloping sething tt makes sen for thicommunitbut al could bapplicab to a uch wir array commuties that y be ia simila

siation. wsimply d'tave good aner to at queion ye. omarlle: i fd this ery empowering. 's alwing us brk down se of tho cultul barrirs, som of those grf barrie that's en in ple from yrs past. you di'tven reale it. if evy other rricane ason, ou' havingo replaccars or furnure, youon't have chae toave savis, and y d't ave a chce to alw yo kids toe a bett next step life. srting ouin this pie of propty, th canave a ho and a w to proess intohe futur if i was tportray on an eangered specs list, is is ourebirth ere we c stt our nepopulati to get ofthat endgered spies ist.

announcer: "earth focus" is made possible in part by the orange county community foundation and the farvue foundation. k■x■x

01/02/23 01/02/23 [captioning made possible amy: from new york, this is democracy now! juan: my modest contribution, i decided, would be a voice from another part of new york. not writing about outcast neighborhoods but from them. not simply to entertain but to change. not after the fact, but before it when coverage could still make a difference. amy: today, an hour with juan gonzalez.