Breaux Act Newsflash - Coastal Protection, Restoration Financing Corp Discusses Impact of Wetlands at First Meeting
***********************************************************************Coastal Protection, Restoration Financing Corp Discusses Impact of Wetlands
at First Meeting
Baton Rouge -- The newly-formed Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration
Financing Corporation met for the first time Wednesday to discuss the
feasibility of bonding expected offshore oil and gas royalties for use in
building coastal restoration and hurricane protection projects over the
coming decade.
The Corporation's first item of business was to name Angele Davis, the
commissioner of the Division of Administration and Governor Bobby Jindal's
designee to the corporation as its chair. Ted Falgout, the executive
director of the Port of Fourchon, was named the vice chair.
Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle explained to the
Corporation the importance of protecting and restoring Louisiana's coast in
relation to protecting the energy needs of the United States. Louisiana
produces more crude oil, natural gas and revenue for the Federal Treasury
off its Outer Continental Shelf than any other state, Angelle said.
Showing a map of offshore oil exploration in the United States, Angelle
illustrated that almost all of the offshore energy production in the country
takes place in a very small portion of the coast.
"It seems like America is betting everything on the Gulf of Mexico to
provide energy for this entire country," he said. "With that in mind, we
need to do all we can to protect those interests by finding a way to fund
restoration and protection projects."
Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chairman Garret Graves backed
up Angelle's statements by explaining to the Corporation the enormous amount
of energy and revenue Louisiana provides to the rest of the nation.
According to Graves, Louisiana has provided nearly $150 billion in revenues
to the Federal Treasury since offshore oil and natural gas exploration began
in the state more than 50 years ago. Yet, the state has received virtually
nothing in return, making every dollar the state can generate for coastal
restoration and protection efforts extremely valuable.
"If you look at a state like Massachusetts, it consumes 65 times the amount
of energy it produces," Graves said. "It and other states depend on
Louisiana to provide energy while our wetlands have washed away and our
protection systems were neglected. If the federal government and the state
had been more proactive about using some of that revenue to protect and
restore Louisiana's coast, we could have prevented 80-90 percent of the
deaths that occurred because of Hurricane Katrina and Rita in 2005."
David Miller, the recently appointed Director of Implementation for the
Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, showed the Corporation a list
of both restoration and hurricane protection projects planned by the state.
Miller explained that the CPRA's Fiscal Year 2009 Coastal Restoration and
Hurricane Protection Annual Plan identifies about $525 million in projects
the state can currently pay for but also about $1.2 billion in projects that
could be built if the state had more funds available.
"There is a long list of projects that the state could build if this
corporation can produce some additional revenue for us," Miller said.
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Deputy Assistant Secretary John Roussel
made the case to find more revenue for restoration and protection projects
by explaining the vital importance of Louisiana's coastal marshes, lakes and
bays to the state's prolific fishing industry.
Roussel said recreational and commercial saltwater fishing combined account
for a more than $3 billion impact on Louisiana's economy and that more than
32 percent of the nation's oyster, blue crab and shrimp harvests come from
the state. He also said that more than 75 percent of the menhaden fishery in
the nation is in Louisiana and that the state accounts for nearly 20 percent
of all recreational saltwater fishing trips taken in the country.
"The habitat in our marshes and along our coastline is essential to the
sustainability of our rich fisheries," Roussel said.
For more information about the Coastal Protection and Restoration Financing
Corporation or any of Louisiana's coastal protection and restoration
efforts, please contact Chris Macaluso at (225) 342-3968 or by email at
chris.macaluso@la.gov
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