In Louisiana, wetlands erosion and an overall lack of infrastructure have created a situation in which the state is incredibly vulnerable to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina six years ago and the BP oil spill. 

The Nation’s Melissa Harris-Perry talks on MSNBC’s Sound Off during the network’s Green Week about the importance of getting the region back on sound environmental footing. The state has 40 percent of America’s coastal wetlands, Harris-Perry points out, and the safety of its coastline is not a regional but a national concern.

—Jin Zhao