By the early 1970s, we knew the diagnostics of how the system was changing.

We've been wasting the river, particularly the sediment, directing it offshore. The Corps of Engineers from the New Orleans District Office dredges more river sediment than any other district in the United States. ... The problem is, we don't put it [sediments] where it's needed. We should pipe it across the landscape, putting it into regions where we can build wetlands.

This is one of the most industrialized, highly engineered delta systems in the world.

The people aren't moving toward the coast, the coast is moving toward the people. People have been put in harm's way for the economic interest of the rest of the nation.

Nobody pretends to think that that $2 billion is enough for the task at hand.

Wetland loss was part of the process, but it was always accompanied by wetland gain.