US legislators turn to Louisiana for experience on climate change impacts to infrastructure

By SARA CLINE
Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget are turning to Louisiana for its hard-earned expertise in the fiscal impacts of climate change. The committee met Wednesday, with Gov. John Bel Edwards providing testimony on the struggles the often hurricane-riddled Deep South state has incurred. He also shared what investments Louisiana has made in attempt to protect infrastructure, avoid catastrophe and decrease preventable deaths. Over the past two decades, Louisiana has had a front-row seat to the impacts of climate change. Hurricanes are making landfall more frequently, coastal areas are being eaten away by erosion, sea levels are rising and the Mississippi River is reaching record-low water levels.