[StBernard] EDITORIAL: Offshore opposition

[Westley Annis]

By: Times Picayune
Published: Monday, June 19, 2006
<http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/editorials/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1150696862302200.xml>

Louisiana officials have been fighting for a greater share of offshore oil and gas royalties to restore our wounded coastline, and that's a battle we have to win, even if it means a showdown with the federal government over new offshore oil leases. 

Gov. Kathleen Blanco has threatened to oppose the Aug. 16 sale, saying that the state can't support more activity off its shore unless there's a real commitment to restoring the environment. 

Using the lease sale as leverage is a smart strategy, but it's also a reasonable position for Louisiana's governor to take. The state's role as an energy-producing state has had serious consequences for our environment. While oil and gas exploration isn't the only cause of wetlands loss, it is one of the factors. What's more, the loss of marsh that has left Louisiana more vulnerable to hurricanes also leaves platforms and pipelines at greater risk. That loss was accelerated by the damage Hurricane Katrina did to wetlands and barrier islands. 

Gov. Blanco first signaled her intention to oppose the lease sale in a February letter to the Minerals Management Service. This week, she sent another letter, a necessary legal step to opposing the sale. 

The country needs to make "wise and necessary investment" in the future of its economy and energy security, Gov. Blanco said. She's right to frame the argument that way. Our nation needs to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, and that ought to mean looking out for states like Louisiana that provide domestic energy. A quarter of domestic drilling takes place off Louisiana's shore. 

Gov. Blanco's opposition to the August lease sale should serve as a pointed reminder of how critical that production is to the rest of the nation -- and make it clear that our coastal woes are really a national issue. 

Louisiana has made a strong, consistent case for getting a greater share of the $7 billion that the federal government collects each year from oil and gas production on the Outer Continental Shelf. Inland states get 50 percent of the revenue from minerals extracted from federal lands within their borders. 

Coastal, energy-producing states should get no less, but they do, and Louisiana gets an especially poor deal. While Texas and Florida get 100 percent of the revenue from production 9 miles into the Gulf, Louisiana only has control over the first 3 miles and gets 27 percent of the revenue from drilling 3 to 6 miles out and nothing after that. 

Leaving Louisiana at risk, without a stable and robust source of money to rebuild its ravaged coast, would be a foolish path for the country to take. Hurricane Katrina should have made that clear. But if Congress isn't persuaded by what happened here last August, maybe Louisiana's actions this August will prove more convincing. 



-30-


The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation Louisiana's Fund for Louisiana's People www.louisianahelp.org