Update On The "60 Minutes" Kusky Flap
Just wanted to give a quick update on the debate surrounding Sunday's "60 Minutes" story about New Orleans, which we previously discussed here. Today, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans prints a lengthy story on the controversy entitled "NOT SO FAST, '60 MINUTES.'" The story quotes a number of experts saying that Tim Kusky, the scientist quoted in the "60 Minutes" piece saying the city would be surrounded by water within 90 years, "went overboard," as the Times-Picayune puts it.
Here's a portion of the article:
In an interview Monday, Kusky said his projection of the city becoming an island was "based on a statement made by the director of the U.S. Geological Survey" in 2000.The story goes on to quote scientists further questioning Kusky's findings, as well as his credentials in the field.But University of Texas at Austin geology professor Charles Groat, who was then director of the U.S. Geological Survey, flatly disagreed with Kusky's conclusions.
Groat said Kusky relied on "an offhand comment that has often been repeated" that was included in a University of New Orleans magazine piece that compared New Orleans to Atlantis.