Louisiana's oily present and past reflections Special

The crisis in the Gulf is the focus of Louisiana, from politicians to everyday residents. They wonder like everyone else about options, just as a well-known politician talked about in an interview with this reporter nearly four years ago.

The Christmas festival comes the first week of December in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The town becomes a who's who of the rich and famous, the powerful and those who just want to be seen in right places, right times and in all the right ways. The Christmas festival in Natchitoches brings tourists from around the state and around the world to marvel over Christmas lights, horse and buggies and special old-fashioned ways. Festival season lasts from the first week of November until the end of the first week in January. It's a season where the Christmas lights rival heaven's stars as folks hunker down in a small community to embrace the rest of the world. The place is recalled in the film, Steel Magnolias, where the main characters, played by such notables as Sally Field, Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts, are shown walking along the river, with the Christmas lights in the background that speak to many about the beauty of the simple ways of small towns everywhere. It's when folks exchange pleasantries; relationships made. Like one remembered today, as the oil spills into the Gulf of Mexico from the oil rig explosion of April 20. Newspaper co-editor Carol Forsloff, of The Real Views at the time, interviewed Senator Mary Landrieu on Festival Day December 2006 at a local downtown hotel, all decked up for Christmas. "We need to build communities where people can walk places easier. We need to have places where old and young can interact and where people don't have to drive as much. I have been talking to people around the state about redesigning the communities of Louisiana around these concepts and have been meeting with many of the mayors in towns across the State of Louisiana." "What's the most important thing Louisiana needs?" was the question a reporter asked then. The answer came from Senator Mary Landrieu as she discussed new ways of building communities and addressed concerns about transportation and reducing dependence on oil. Was this someone from Oregon, a going green person, who spoke? It was a Senator identified with oil, with hurricanes, with disasters, asking for money and shown in media soundbites as one of those greedy and bad. But this wasn't a time for politics at a holiday time with one question answered simply, and detailed a full 30 minutes of time to a humble reporter, who then watched her walking away. Landrieu in 2006 spoke of alternative ways of designing communities in fashions discussed by research groups at the University of Utah in 2010. In a press release Wednesday researchers report findings that reveal the impact of good planning on relationship-building and reducing dependence on oil. "In one study after another, the design of communities has been shown to affect the amount that people drive, walk, and use transit. Hopefully this study helps quiet the debate over whether community design matters. These estimates can be used in transportation planning, health impact assessment, climate action planning, and many other planning activities," said Reid Ewing, one of the principals in the University of Utah study "I hope it isn't too late to redo how we live," Dolores Blalock, a Natchitoches Parish resident, wondered a few days ago, as do other people in the State of Louisiana. She is joined by others who wonder "what if" as events on the Gulf hurry on. Randy Stelly, who continues his work as Publisher of The Real Views, said as he hurriedly prepared for a trip to Houston on Wednesday: "I do remember the season. And I remember the time of the interview with Landrieu. This isn't a political occasion; it's time simply now to reflect and get at stopping and cleaning up after the spill. Right now, our paths are now separate, you and me, and others too, from those several years ago. The message, however, is the same. The soul of Louisiana is all of us now, no matter the party, or blame. Perhaps we all should have listened more carefully then." As images pass across the screens of televisions everywhere, Louisiana people wonder what's ahead, if the top kill method will work, if something works from BP that stops the spill, what matters with tomorrow. "We need to plan in other ways. It's hard to convince people now. I think it's important to do it, but it's hard to get people to change," Senator Mary Landrieu, said at holiday season 2006 to a reporter, neither knowing then the crisis ahead.

Carol Forsloff

Crowds gather in the thousands at Christmas Festival in Natchitoches, Louisiana

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