follow the money

The AK Climate Impact Assessment Commission met all day yesterday in Anchorage. A discussion of sorts came together in testimony from three separate invited speakers, including one of the commission members, who charged the Army Corps with funding ill-planned erosion control programs. The Army Corps sort of defended itself, but also explained that it simply didn't have the authority, which sounded like news to Sen. Gene Therriault, a studious state lawmaker.
The commission also heard some dramatic stuff about the impacts (real and potential) on salmon, as well as eloquent public testimony on how climate change was making impossible a way of life that's been developed over thousands of years in tune with the land and climate.
I wrote about the allegedly wasted money. Here's the story.
Sen. Ted Stevens stopped in and made the point that erosion is a larger problem now that villagers have fixed infrastructure like power plants and schools. Later in the day, he traveled to Shishmaref with Sen. Mary Landrieu. He's holding a hearing on coastal erosion today in Anchorage. Check back later for an update.