Scalise Includes His Language to Give Immediate Revenue Sharing and Restore Coast in Republican Comprehensive Energy Bill Introduced This Week

Scalise’s language would give Louisiana hundreds of millions of dollars each year to restore our coast

Friday, May 8, 2009

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise today announced that his language to give immediate OCS revenue sharing to restore our coast was included in the “American Energy Innovation Act” (H.R. 2300) that was introduced this week by more 30 Members of Congress.

The American Energy Innovation Act is the Republican alternative energy plan to the Democrats’ “cap and trade” energy tax plan. Scalise was part of the Republican Conference’s American Energy Solutions Working Group, who helped draft this legislation.

“This is an important development for Louisiana to get immediate OCS revenue sharing to restore our coast included in the original draft of this bill,” Scalise said. “I pushed hard to include this language that will immediately give Louisiana our fair share of federal revenues generated from offshore oil and gas activity. This provision will give Louisiana hundreds of millions of dollars a year to be used specifically for coastal restoration and flood protection projects.”

“For decades we have watched many western states receive hundreds of millions of dollars annually from energy production on federal lands, while Louisiana produces exponentially more energy to power our nation’s economy and receives virtually nothing,” said Garret Graves, Director of the Governor’s Office on Coastal Activities. “The billions of dollars Louisiana would receive under this bill would be dedicated to vital coastal restoration and hurricane protection efforts in our state, and I applaud Congressman Scalise for his negotiations on this legislation.”

The language from Scalise’s bill (the GAS Act), H.R. 1108, that is included verbatim in the American Energy Innovation Act, H.R. 2300, will do the following:

•    Provide billions of new dollars to Louisiana and other coastal states by immediately sharing 50% of OCS oil and gas revenues with OCS adjacent states- these funds will allow Louisiana to immediately make major investments in restoring our vanishing coastline and protecting our valuable wetlands.
•    Increases American supply of oil and natural gas by permanently opening the OCS where drilling is currently prohibited.
•    Exploring alternative sources of energy like oil shale and tar sands.

Scalise said, “This legislation is a common sense approach to developing a comprehensive national energy policy, which will create good jobs and reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil while utilizing our own natural resources here in America and further developing alternative sources of energy like wind, nuclear and solar.”

The American Energy Innovation Act, comprehensive energy legislation for the 111th Congress, represents a fiscally responsible approach to reducing our dependence on Middle Eastern oil, providing a cleaner environment, and putting Americans to work by:

•    Encouraging innovation within the energy market to create the renewable fuel options and energy careers of tomorrow.
•    Promoting greater conservation and efficiency by providing incentives for easing energy demand and creating a cleaner, more sustainable environment.
•    Increasing the production of American energy by responsibly utilizing all available resources and technologies and streamlining burdensome regulations.