Louisiana
Louisiana marshes bury carbon in the muck. Could they help fight climate change?
Gathered on a strip of salt marsh bordering the Gulf of Mexico, Tim Carruthers and his team of scientists huddle around a patch of soil marked by protruding PVC pipes.
Pelicans soar overhead and massive ocean-going ships cruise by, heading toward the neighboring oil and gas seaport of Port Fourchon. But Carruthers’ team has their eyes fixed on the ground.
The group works a thick pipe into the soft dirt and releases liquid nitrogen, letting it flow into the ground with a loud hiss. The process results in a long tube of frozen mud — a sample they can take back to the lab.
“What we like to call a sediment popsicle,” said Carruthers, director of coastal ecology at the Water Institute of the Gulf.
The sediment popsicle is at the center of his research into something hard to see — carbon dioxide.
Water Institute of the Gulf
Carruthers’ research is part of an effort to understand how big a role Louisiana marshes can play in the fight against climate change. The larger the role, the more money they could be worth.
Marshes can act as“carbon sinks,” or natural spaces that absorb and store more carbon than they release. In fact, coastal wetlands are among the best habitats on Earth at sequestering carbon. Louisiana is rich in them.
The state holds almost two-thirds of all the carbon stored in coastal marshes along the Gulf Coast. The reason is twofold: Louisiana has far more wetlands than its Gulf neighbors and its soil accumulates carbon at a faster rate.
Louisiana marshes’ knack for capturing carbon could allow the state to eventually create a new market for carbon credits, where companies invest in the restoration of coastal ecosystems as a way to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
Carruthers said the arrangement presents the chance for a “triple win:” reducing planet-warming emissions, enhancing knowledge of marshes and creating a new way to fund coastal restoration.
“All of these efforts are trying to see if we can get to a point that it’s financially viable,” he said.
But the carbon equation for this dynamic habitat is complicated.
Depending on how salty the marsh is, methane-burping bacteria in the soil can thrive, negating some of the carbon stored by marsh grasses and mangroves. The bacteria is less tolerant to salty water, but Carruthers said the salinity of Louisiana marshes can vary widely.
“There are just some uncertainties,” he said. “So we have to make very conservative assumptions.”
The constant flux makes it hard to estimate a marsh’s capacity to store carbon. So far, Carruthers said that’s made selling carbon credits for marshes financially inviable.
Based on current models, Carruthers said a marsh-building project covering almost 3,500 acres would only offer up to $1 million in return over 30 years. To put that into perspective, the state’s largest marsh restoration project — the Upper Barataria Marsh Creation project — was a third of that size and cost $181 million to build.
Even still, the state and companies continue to be enthusiastic about the market’s potential.
Carruthers’ research is in partnership with Chevron, which owns the strip of land outside of Port Fourchon that hosts his study site.
Chevron environmental geoscientist Cas Bridge said the research presents an exciting opportunity to look into nature-based climate solutions.
“I think there’s this acknowledgment that there’s going to be this sort of an amount of emissions that are hard or impossible to abate, and so that’s where offsets come in,” she said.
PETER_D_JANSEN
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Greater Lafourche Port Commission
Even if carbon credits aren’t in the cards, Bridges said the study is also a way to look at the potential for habitat restoration to increase Port Fourchon’s resiliency against rising sea levels and storms that have grown stronger due to climate change. In a way, a carbon market would be a bonus.
“There is an element of playing the long game,” she said. “And nothing in the research so far indicates that we should stop.”
Isabel Englehart, a policy advisor for the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities, said there has always been uncertainty around how large of a role marshes can play.
She said Carruthers’ research sheds light on one of the state’s most valuable resources. But the extent to which marshes may play a role in the state’s plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 is still a question mark.
“Natural sequestration is not going to be the silver bullet for reducing our statewide emissions,” Englehart said. “But it could be a big part of it.”
Louisiana
Brother of Louisiana mayor accused of raping 16-year-old has a hauntingly similar criminal past
The brother of Louisiana mayor Misty Roberts — accused of raping her son’s teenage friend — is facing child sex crimes of his own.
Brandon Lee Roberts, 39, was accused of raping a teen girl and assaulting a young woman over the course of several years, KALB reported.
The alleged sexual abuse began when one of the victims was as young as 13, according to Beauregard Parish Sheriff Mark Herford.
He was arrested in October.
That comes years after his big sister – ex-mayor of DeRidder, 43-year-old Misty Roberts – allegedly got hot and heavy with her son’s 16-year-old friend at a drunken party at their home.
Roberts was allegedly caught in the tryst by her own kids.
She was arrested months later, and is currently on trial for rape charges.
The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 2, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 2 drawing
3-9-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 2 drawing
4-1-1-0
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 2 drawing
0-5-2-9-5
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Louisiana Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Louisiana Lottery offices. Prizes of over $5,000 must be claimed at Lottery office.
By mail, follow these instructions:
- Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
- Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
- Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
- Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.
Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:
Louisiana Lottery Headquarters
555 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70801
To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:
555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.
When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
- Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana National Guard announced Monday that 120 troops will remain deployed in New Orleans through August.
The six-month extension comes after 350 Guard members deployed to New Orleans in late December, in the run-up to New Year’s and other high-profile events like the Sugar Bowl. The troops, which had mainly clustered in the city’s historic French Quarter, had been scheduled to depart in the aftermath of Mardi Gras.
New Orleans is one of several Democrat-run cities, such as Washington and Memphis, Tennessee, where the federal government deployed armed troops under the administration of President Donald Trump. Hundreds of federal agents also converged on Louisiana in December as part of a separate immigration crackdown in and around New Orleans.
During his State of the Union address last week, Trump touted the deployment in New Orleans as a “big success.” In January, Trump credited the troops with reducing the city’s violent crime within a week of their deployment. City police data shows violent crime rates have significantly declined over the past three years in parallel with national trends.
According to a press statement from the Louisiana National Guard, the remaining guard members will serve as a “visible presence to deter criminal activity in New Orleans.”
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a Democrat who initially opposed the deployment, said that the troops would benefit the city in the coming weeks. She pointed out that National Guard troops had assisted the city during last year’s Mardi Gras in the aftermath of a vehicle-ramming attack in the French Quarter that killed 14 people on New Year’s Day.
“I continue to support the partnership with the LA National Guard to assist in our major events and there are several coming up in the next few weeks,” Moreno said in a statement.
While Moreno did not address which events she referred to, visitors flock to New Orleans in the spring for events like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican and staunch Trump ally, requested the deployment of the National Guard last September, citing rising violent crime rates in New Orleans despite the data showing crime was down.
“This continued deployment will help us combat violence in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana,” Landry wrote on the social platform X on Monday, noting Louisiana had also sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., last year.
Kate Kelly, a spokesperson for Landry, said the federal government would cover the cost of the extended deployment. She did not respond to a question about whether Guard members would be deployed outside New Orleans.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Friloux, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in a statement the troops had already worked closely with other city, state and federal agencies to improve public safety during a stretch of high-profile events in the city, including the flood of visitors over Mardi Gras and the city’s carnival season.
“We remain committed to those partnerships as we continue supporting efforts to keep the City of New Orleans safe for residents and visitors,” Friloux said.
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