Twenty years has made a great difference, primarily because of technological advances in how Louisiana addresses environmental issues. What has not changed is the fact that regulatory controls will never be as successful nor as cost effective as the voluntary approach in addressing agricultural nonpoint source pollution control. In the agricultural community, clean air, water, and healthy productive soils are and always will be the results of a well-educated private landowner who voluntarily applies resource management practices that protect the environment. First we have to document, scientifically, the character of the damage done. Put environmental concerns in economic language that the press, the public, and the policy makers can readily grasp and appreciate as critical.
Time is required to build awareness and support and to secure necessary resources.
Money must be found to implement solutions. Balances must be struck. The complexities of an ecosystem such as the Bay or the Gulf make quantitative measurement of the effects of policy options difficult. The time required for results to be manifested can make political support difficult to sustain. In summary, the approach to restore the Gulf, if it follows the Chesapeake Bay approach, must be regional, inter-governmental and an approach that strives for consensus and cooperation derived from a common desire to improve the quality of life for all who depend on the Gulf.