Saving Lousiana's Coast

The White House has countered with a short-term, scaled-back version of the plan. The details are still being worked out, but state officials say the Bush administration is expected to propose spending less than $1 billion over 10 years... The state had proposed a comprehensive plan that would have included filling in dozens of canals, tearing down levees that block the natural flow of water and constructing new water storage areas on land currently set aside for agriculture or development... Rep. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican who is a strong backer of the White House agenda, said that administration "bean counters" had failed to grasp the sense of urgency that the state had attempted to convey in Washington."