Give Louisiana What It Deserves

I think the Times-Picayune Editorial in today's edition is a nice follow up on I.D. Reilly's previous post.

For those who don't know, because of the greed of one of our former elected officials (Leander Perez) and the stupidity of another (Earl K. Long), we get paltry sum of royalties compared to other states. We have been treated like unwanted step-children for too long.

There are two bills in Congress right now that deal with oil production royalties. The House bill is more generous and starts sooner than the Senate bill which really wouldn't provide any real funding to us until 2017. We don't have 10 minutes to wait much less 10 years.

The final outcome will likely be somewhere in the middle of the two bills. An amendment on the ballot September 30 would dedicate any funds we get from this to Coastal restoration and hurricane protection. It is extremely important that this bill passes for several reasons.

First, it would show Washington that we are going to do the right thing with the money. Second, it is only fair that the area that has been negatively affected the most by the oil and gas industry gets the benefit of the royalties. The condition of our coastline right now is critical. Don't think however, that the condition of the coast doesn't affect the whole state and the country for that matter. Kartrina and Rita proved that in grave detail.

http://www.americaswetland.com/


TAGS: Katrina, New Orleans, NOLA, Coastal Restoration, Louisiana, OCS