WEBVTT

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Okay, Chelsea, as I mentioned on last week's

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Fringy Mini, I do have sort of a plan for this

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two -parter to somewhat be in the same route.

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So, okay. Once again, no option. Once again,

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the contrast of rich people's emotions spelt

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the way that it would look in the title, as somebody

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puts it in this one. Yes. Just to give you an

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idea of how to title these episodes. Well, I'm

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interested to see what way it goes. Is it going

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to be? rich people and their emotions, or is

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it going to be the other side of it? Time will

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tell. Anyhow, I hope it's brief. This article

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comes from the Associated Press. It is written

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on July 17th by Jack Brooke. Article title, Louisiana

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cancels three billion dollar coastal restoration

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project funded by oil spill settlement. Hold

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on, I need to really let that sink in. Well,

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I think that's the whole point of an article,

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is it not? Yeah, yeah, you can breathe. I still

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need to process that for a second. But you can

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continue. Louisiana on Thursday. Don't stop for

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me. I always hate when people do this in the

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past. They say a very specific day of the week

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and I have to go back and think about what day

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of the week that is. No, I'm not doing that.

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Louisiana on Thursday cancelled a three billion

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dollar repair of disappearing Gulf Coastline,

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funded by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill

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settlement. scrapping what conservatives called

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an urgent response to climate change, but Governor

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Jeff Landry viewed as a threat to the state's

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way of life. What? Despite years and reviews,

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the project at the center of Louisiana's coastal

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protection plans grew increasingly imperiled

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after Landry, a Republican, took office last

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year. Its collapse meant that the state could

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lose out on more than $1 .5 billion in unspent

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funds and may even have to repay $618 million.

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What? It already used to begin building. The

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Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group, a mix

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of federal agencies overseeing the settlement

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funds, said that Unused project funds will be

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available for future Deepwater Horizon restoration

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activities," but would require review and approval.

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The mid -borotarius sediment diversion project

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aimed to rebuild upwards of 20 square miles of

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land. over a 50 -year period in southeast Louisiana

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to combat sea level rise and erosion on the Gulf

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Coast. When construction stalled last year because

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of lawsuits, trustees warned that the state would

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have to return the hundreds of millions of dollars

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it had already spent if the project did not move

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forward. Former Louisiana representative Garrett

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Graves, a Republican who once led the state's

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coastal restoration agency, said that killing

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the project was quote, a boneheaded decision,

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end quote, not rooted in science, quote, is going

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to result in one of the largest setbacks for

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our coast and the protection of our communities

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in decades. I don't know what chiropractor or

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palm reader they got advice from on this, but

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baffling that someone thought this was a good

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idea," Graves said. Project supporters stressed

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that it would have provided a data -driven, large

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-scale solution to mitigate the worst effects

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of an eroding coastline in a state where a football

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field of land is lost every 100 minutes and more

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than 2 ,000 square miles of land have vanished

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over the past century, according to the US Geological

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Survey. The project, which broke ground in 2023,

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would have diverted sediment -laden water from

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the Mississippi River to restore wetlands disappearing

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because of a range of factors including climate

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change and due sea level rise and a vast river

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levee system that choked off natural land for

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a generation from sediment deposits. Quote, the

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science has not changed nor has the need for

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urgent action, end quote said Kim Rayhair, executive

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director of the coalition to restore the coast

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of Louisiana. Quote, what has changed is the

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political landscape, end quote. Louisiana trustee

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implementation group last year had noted that,

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quote, no other single restoration project has

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been planned and studied as extensively over

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the past decades, end quote. While the project

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had largely received bipartisan support and was

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championed by democratic governor John Bell Edwards,

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his successor has been a vocal opponent. Landry

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recoiled at the rising price tag and amplified

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concerns that the massive influx of fresh water

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would devastate local fisheries. Landry has said

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the project would break Louisiana's culture of

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shrimp and oyster harvesting and compared it

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to government efforts a century ago to punish

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school children for speaking Cajun French. Quote,

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we fought this battle a long time ago, but Governor

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Landry is the reason we won this battle, end

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quote said Mitch Jurisich, who chairs Louisiana

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Oyster Task Force and sued the state over the

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project's environmental impacts, including likely

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killing thousands of bottlenose dolphins due

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to the onslaught of fresh water. Landry said

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in a statement that the project is quote no longer

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financially or practically viable, end quote

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noting that the cost had doubled since 2016.

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Quote, this level of spending is unsustainable,

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threatens Louisiana's seafood industry, our coastal

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culture, and the livelihoods of our fishermen,

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people who have sustained our state for generations.

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End quote. The project's budget had included

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more than $400 million for mitigating the costs

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to local communities, including the help to the

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oyster industry to build new oyster beds. Project

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proponents said that the rapid loss of coast

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meant communities would be displaced anyways

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if the state failed to take actions to protect

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them. Quote, you either move oysters or move

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people, and there's only one answer to that question.

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End quote for ASAP. Louisiana's Coastal Protection

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and Restoration Authority, the lead agency overseeing

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the project, said in a statement that the project

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was, quote, no longer viable at the time, based

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on a totality of the circumstances, end quote,

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including cost litigation and a federal permit

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suspended earlier this year after the state halted

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work on the project. We also should note that

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that's under the Trump administration. Chairman

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Gordon Dove said that, quote, our commitment

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to coastal restoration has not wavered, end quote,

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and that the state plans to pursue a smaller

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scale diversion nearby. Dove told lawmakers earlier

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this year that the state could save at least

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$1 billion with a different plan to channel river

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water into the Gulf Coast at a rate five to 30

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times less than the mid -Varataria project's

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75 ,000 cubic feet per second. Conservation groups

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bristled at the change in plans. The Mid -Barataria

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Project's termination marked, quote, a complete

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abandonment of science -driven decision -making

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and public transparency, end quote. Restore the

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Mississippi River Delta, a coalition of environmental

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groups said in a statement adding that the state

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was, quote, throwing away, end quote, money intended

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to protect its coastal residents and economy.

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The coalition said alternative measures proposed

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by the state such as the smaller scale diversion

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or rebuilding land by dredging were insufficient

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to meaningfully combat land loss and did not

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undergo the same level of scientific vetting

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as the Midbarataria project. Quote, a stopgap

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project with no data is not a solution, end quote.

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The coalition said, quote, we need diversion

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designs backed by science, not politics, end

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quote and a barter. I have a couple of questions

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now. Did I miss where the oil? money came from

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it was a settlement with the deep water horizon

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issue way back in the day 2010 anything did they

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just like i have so many questions about this

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well it sounds like there was a fun set aside

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to mitigate climate change yeah and restore the

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code and it sounds like it may have gone Above

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it sounds like it had to be specifically used

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for certain projects and it's not going to be

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so they're not gonna get the money That is super.

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I don't know. I find it super weird. However,

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I'm not in that area No, but it also feels like

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all that the governor probably has money coming

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in more to him But less than the actual project

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amount in kickbacks from what would that be BP?

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I think it was BP who would have settled that

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right just speculation. Oh it totally but I'm

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wondering like why are they just not gonna get

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this money and why are they abandoning? I mean,

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Louisiana is known for wild corruption within

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its in its governance and I know you said under

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Trump So I know there's a whole bunch of stuff

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going on about there with woke And I don't know

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if he's lumping climate change in with the world.

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I know it's it's been clear He told the EPA that

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they're not allowed to they've changed all their

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rules that climate change is not a thing and

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carbon Dioxide is not a blue right? Yeah That

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is fucked. I know Louisiana is probably the one

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that is sinking into the ocean the fastest, I

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believe, out of all of the states. I know that

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the beaches are eroding in multiple places, but

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I believe Louisiana has been sinking for a long

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time. Oh, like they said, they've lost 2000 miles

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of land. Yeah. So this is. I'm just trying to

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make heads or tails of why the fuck they wouldn't

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be well it sounds like it's a money thing a funding

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thing as well as this but Why can't they put

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it into wildlife or something like that that

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they're also destroying with oil and stuff like

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why why does it specifically have to be this

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if they can't get the money for it But well,

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I find it hilarious. They're not a fun article.

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They are trying to do a political like, oh, well,

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we can just do this much cheaper version, which

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all the scientists were like, no, you need to

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do the full version. No, that that does make

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sense to do the full version. Yeah. Yeah. Anyhow,

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like I said, there's not rich people in the areas

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that are impacted. I was literally just going

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to say that. I mean, how beachfront property

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in Louisiana? I don't believe it would be many

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there. They're complaining elsewhere. Well, and

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I don't think there's expensive beachfront property

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in Louisiana. I don't know that there, I mean,

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it's been known for a while, so you wouldn't

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think billionaires, they just buy it where it's

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about to. Yeah, and I think the fun part about

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living in Louisiana is everybody eventually is

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going to have beachfront property there. Plus,

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there's Friar, no, it's not Friar Bonatti, it's

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Baron Samaddy. Baron Samaddy, those are different

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people. They sound the same, though. And I really

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wish they put Baron Samedi in charge of AI. I

00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:26.419
really wish they put Baron Samedi in charge of

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this project as well. As many things, I wish

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he was. I love that guy. Oh, he just wants to

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have a good time. Oh, he he loves rum. So and

00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:42.220
with that with that. Yeah. Yeah. You got 48 hours.

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I don't. You can take that implication how you

00:10:45.379 --> 00:10:48.799
will. It could be a call to action to drink rum

00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:51.580
it could be a call to action to deal with climate

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change I don't know you take it. We'll see you

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on Friday. Bye. Bye