[StBernard] States protest federal barriers

[Westley Annis]

States protest federal barriers

 08/04/2014

 By Nick Snow 

 Washington Editor

 

 Louisiana's parish and local governments want a bigger share of revenue
from development of federally managed oil and gas resources there. Utah
officials simply would like more energy developed in their state.

 Officials from the two states separately delivered their messages to the US
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at its July 22 hearing,
"Leveraging America's Resources as a Revenue Generator and Job Creator."

 Other witnesses emphasized the importance of promoting and preserving
recreation and tourism opportunities. But the officials from Louisiana and
Utah basically said their states and communities could benefit more if the
federal government quit standing in the way.

 "Domestic energy production is a major component of the economy in
Lafourche Parish," said its president, Charlotte Randolph, who also
testified on behalf of the National Association of Counties. "It directly,
and indirectly, generates tens of thousands of jobs which in turn generate
millions of dollars to our local community and state."

 Some $2.8 billion came to the federal government from the sale in 2013 of
oil and gas leases in waters off Louisiana's coast, Randolph noted in her
written statement. Median household income in Lafourche Parish is higher
than Louisiana overall, she said, "but you must remember that people require
services that the parish provides-including law enforcement and courts,
emergency management, infrastructure maintenance and development, and
environmental protection, to name just a few.

 "It is critical that the federal government share natural resource
development revenue proportionally with the counties that support and are
affected by that development, as they are responsible for the needs of the
citizens they serve," Randolph said.

 'Arcane processes'

 Utah's situation is aggravated by the federal government controlling 70% of
the public land there, according to Laura Nelson, who directs the Governor's
Energy Development Office. "Utah is willing-and has proven itself able-to
manage its natural resources effectively, but we remain subject to arcane
federal regulatory processes that hinder our natural, environmentally
responsible economic growth," she said in her written testimony.

 In addition to those federal regulatory processes, Utah has seen the US
Bureau of Land Management reduce lease offerings and issue fewer permits
since Barack Obama became president, Nelson said. "Annually, this
administration's BLM has leased less than 30% as much land as during the
Bush administration in any given year," she said.

 Nelson said that Utahns have noticed the Obama administration's preference
for solar energy over oil shale and oil sands, but added that of 19 solar
projects there that signed contracts in the past year to supply power to
PacifiCorp, the state's biggest electric utility, not one is to be
constructed on federal land.