Breaux Act Newsflash - DNR Secretary Jack Caldwell Testifies Before Congress
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DNR Secretary Jack Caldwell Testifies Before Congress On Bill To Help
Restore Louisiana's Disappearing Coast
Washington D.C. - Secretary Jack Caldwell of the Louisiana Department of
Natural Resources testified this week before the United States House
Resources Committee on behalf of a bill that would help fund the state's
efforts to save its vanishing coastline.
The Congressional hearing focused on the Conservation and Reinvestment
Act (CARA), a bill that overwhelmingly passed the House last year, but
was never brought to the floor of the Senate. Reintroduced in the House
this year by Representatives Billy Tauzin and Chris John, it could put
more than $200 million a year into Louisiana's coastal restoration
efforts.
In his testimony, Sec. Caldwell pointed out Louisiana's unique position
as a key player in the future of the nation's offshore oil and gas
supplies, with 25 percent of all of America's oil and gas crossing
Louisiana's coast by pipeline, barge or tanker. He went on to explain
the state's on-going environmental crisis as it continues to lose its
valuable coast at the staggering rate of 35 square miles a year.
Caldwell described the state's coastal wetlands as America's wetland,
three million acres that protect the nation's offshore oil and gas
infrastructure. He went on to say that those same wetlands support a
third of the nation's total volume of fisheries and provide wildlife
habitat for two-thirds of Mississippi Flyway waterfowl and for many
endangered and threatened species.
"Just two weeks ago, Tropical Storm Allison hit the Texas/Louisiana
coast and the price of crude oil jumped up a dollar a barrel," Caldwell
said. "Can you imagine what would happen if a Category Three hurricane
made a direct hit on oil and gas infrastructure unsheltered by
Louisiana's coast? The economic and ecological damage to the nation
would be enormous."
The CARA bill now has 223 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of
Representatives and is expected to be reintroduced in the Senate in the
near future by Senators Landrieu and Breaux.
For more information call, DNR Public Information at 225-342-8955.
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