New Orleans is the most aquatic of American cities.
This may seem surprising, in light of the fact that other cities exist atop islands, making them a more likely candidate for this title, but a number of factors bear consideration.
Sited as it is in a crescent-shaped bend in the Mississippi River, New Orleans is surrounded by river to the west, south, and east. And, to the north is Lake Ponchartrain, the second largest saltwater lake in the United States.
And what makes the city so thoroughly aquatic is the water underneath. When I was growing up in New Orleans, I was taught that we lived at sea level. Post-Katrina, we all know that such is not the case – the Crescent City, to a large degree, is below sea level. With the exception of some relatively high ground areas like the French Quarter, St. Charles Avenue and the Esplanade ridge, much of New Orleans is a below sea-level bowl into which water poured after that horrible hurricane.
Perhaps the two most unique aspects of New Orleans’ culture and history are intimately linked to this aquatic setting. Ask anyone who has been to New Orleans what makes the city so unique, and the two most common answers are almost always the same— food and music. And the food comes from the water around us: crabs, crawfish, oysters, shrimp, seafood gumbo and jambalaya, frogs legs and turtle soup. New Orleanians have a sensual – almost erotic - fixation with their food. Just ask an ex-pat New Orleanian planning on a visit to his or her hometown where and what they will be eating, and you will receive a detailed response more akin to planning the D-Day invasion of Normandy than a simple trip home.
And New Orleanians treasure most highly the foods from the waters that surround them. New Orleanians feast on foods from the waters.
From the classical compositions of Louis Gottschalk to the rhythm and blues piano of Professor Longhair to the rap stylings of Lil’ Wayne, New Orleans has produced more than its share of music and musicians. But the most important musical genre born in the Crescent City is jazz. While many different cultures contributed to the birth of jazz, most credit the combination of African, Caribbean, and European sounds as having the greatest influence. And all of these influences met and mixed because New Orleans was such an important port of entry into the United States.
But the Gulf through which New Orleans has derived so much sustenance – both edible and cultural – still fills with poison. In the wonderful 1999 film “Three Kings,” the American soldier played by Mark Wahlberg is captured by Saddam’s soldiers. They tie him up, say he and the Americans can have all the oil they want, and they force him to drink it – a sad, frightening, and somewhat appropriate analogy to the situation we have witnessed on the nightly news for 57 days.
Breaking our addiction to foreign oil has been a much bandied-about goal since the Carter Presidency. After 9/11, journalist Tom Friedman called for a dollar a gallon tax on gasoline to reduce demand and provide generous funding for research on alternative energy sources. None of these propitious cries were heeded.
BP’s CEO recently whined that he “wants his life back.” Well, Tony – we want our Gulf back. We want our economy, culture, seafood, and our wetlands back. We want our history and our way of life back. We want our planet back.
We are all somewhat complicit in this disaster—all of us who use fossil fuels, all of us who waste fossil fuels. But now we all see more of the real costs: injured wildlife, human suffering, and cultural degradation that happens when we do not treasure Mother Nature and her gifts. Giving giant companies a free hand—free from regulation, free from oversight—does not mean there is a free ride. Eventually, the bill comes due—and we all end up paying it.
Mark J. Plotkin, Ph.D.
