Ave Cassanda: Lost lands

Kayaking in the lost lands of Louisiana.

Ave Cassandra means hail Cassandra, referring to the woman cursed by Apollo. He gave her the gift of prophesy, but also made it so no one would ever believe her.

That's not exactly what's happening in our world today. From climate change to our still-lousy healthcare system (yes, better than before the Affordable Care Act, but not by a lot), most of us understand that we're screwing things up. The Cassandra activists yell at us, but we're tired of hearing bad news that it feels we can't do anything about.

Most people in Louisiana know that their wetlands need to be remediated. It's going to take so much money that only the oil companies, who are responsible for anywhere between a third and most of the damage, could afford to pay for it. (The companies cut tens of thousands of miles of canals through the wetlands, allowing salt water to kill the plants. It's more complicated, but that's it in a sentence.) Check it out at ProPublica.