Baton Rouge Temperature: 87°
Sunday, September 7, 2008

OPINION

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Much of Baton Rouge this week will sit in the hot and humid dark before blank television screens. Perhaps we could pass some of that time pondering why every couple of years or so much of the state’s power is knocked out.


Though emergency crews and local officials geared up for Hurricane Gustav last week, another group in Washington was mobilizing for the aftermath: lobbyists representing Louisiana clients. Since Hurricane Katrina three years ago, a platoon of Washington lobbyists representing Louisiana entities have cobbled together a niche industry in trying to get the most for the state they love.


New Orleans “dodged a bullet” in Hurricane Gustav, to use the words of Mayor Ray Nagin. The levees held, and pumps worked according to plan. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said gates protecting the canals reaching into the city — the ones where levees were breached during Hurricane Katrina — also worked when needed.


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