[StBernard] [LANDRIEU] BREAKING NEWS: New York Times Reverses Course, Endorses Domenici-Landrieu Offshore Revenue Bill

[Westley Annis]

***** BREAKING NEWS *****
New York Times Reverses Course,
Endorses Domenici-Landrieu
Offshore Revenue Bill

 

WASHINGTON - Saying "it is time to make a serious effort to save the
vanishing wetlands and barrier islands along the coast of Louisiana," the
New York Times today endorsed the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, S.
3711, which would open 8.3 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico to new oil
and gas production and dedicate a portion of the revenues to coastal
restoration, hurricane protection and flood control projects in Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama and Texas.

The editorial, "A Reason to Drill in the Gulf," comes six days after U.S.
Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., made Louisiana's case before the New York
Times editorial board as part of a series of meetings with major news
organizations that also included CNN, FOX News and ABC News.  Sen. Landrieu
is the lead Democratic sponsor of the bill, which she crafted in partnership
with Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M.

"The House should adopt this measure in its present form during the coming
lame-duck session, and President Bush should sign it," the paper wrote.

The endorsement represents an apparent reversal by the paper, which in its
August 2 editorial, "Delusional Thinking in the Senate," called the bill
"bad fiscal policy, since one-third of the royalties that would normally
accrue to all Americans from drilling in federal waters would flow to just
four gulf states."

"I am grateful to the New York Times for taking the time to meet with me
last week, and am happy to have their support for the Domenici-Landrieu
revenue-sharing bill," Sen. Landrieu said today.  "Our bill lays a
significant foundation for the kind of steady revenue stream we can rely on
to restore our wetlands, rebuild our levees and construct comprehensive
flood control.  I am hopeful that this support from such an influential
national newspaper will aid in our efforts to see the bill passed before the
year is out."

The paper also distinguished the Domenici-Landrieu bill from a far
broader-reaching bill passed by the House, saying their support for the
Senate bill "should not be taken as a blanket endorsement of offshore
drilling - nor as an endorsement of a mischievous bill sponsored by
Representative Richard Pombo, Republican of California, and passed by the
House last summer."

Calling the House bill "so poorly thought out as to be unacceptable, even as
a starting point for compromise," the Times cited provisions of the bill
that would open the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to offshore drilling,
despite widespread opposition to the proposal by Republican and Democratic
Senators and Governors from the affected states.  

"The Landrieu bill would simply enlarge the drilling area in the gulf, where
oil and gas exploration has been broadly accepted for years," the paper
wrote.

Negotiations to forge a compromise between the House and Senate broke down
last month over the House's continued insistence that some East or West
coats drilling be included, with incentives for more in the future.  Sen.
Landrieu has said she supports such expanded offshore production, but
recognizes that bipartisan opposition from East and West coast states would
doom its passage.

"With all the facts on the table, the Times recognized that the
carefully-crafted Domenici-Landrieu bill can have a tremendous impact on
protecting and restoring America's only Energy Coast without getting
involved in controversies that would threaten its passage," Sen. Landrieu
said.  

"I believe that we need to do more in the way of domestic production and
energy conservation, and hope to work with my colleagues next year to craft
an Energy Bill that will do that.  But the last Energy Bill took ten years
to come together, and Louisiana doesn't have that time to wait.  We cannot
afford to let our coast's future be held hostage by the politics of the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts."

            President Bush has opposed the House bill, but has repeatedly
endorsed the Senate plan.

"The Landrieu bill targets an immediate need," the Times said. "The House
should not see it as a rival to Mr. Pombo's bill - which has no chance of
passing the Senate - or, for that matter, as primarily an energy bill. The
House should instead see it as a way to restore the health of a battered
ecosystem, as future protection for the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands
of people, and as a way to deliver on unfulfilled promises."


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