wwltv.com article from jay

jay [wwl.blog.today@blogger.com] has sent you an article from wwltv.com. Story: New oil revenue provides hope, protection, say state officials Thank you

New oil revenue provides hope, protection, say state officials 04:03 PM CST on Saturday, December 9, 2006 Brett Martel / Associated Press A newly approved federal plan to share Gulf of Mexico drilling royalties with Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states hopefully will fuel a boost in optimism among coastal residents worried about the future of their vulnerable, storm-battered communities, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu said. WWL-TV / File Photo "It would have been a serious psychological setback to redevelopment," if Congress had failed to approve the measure, Landrieu said. Passed by both houses on Capitol Hill and sent to President Bush early Saturday morning, the legislation represents a historic national investment in Louisiana. It will send billions of dollars here -- as well as to Mississippi, Texas and Alabama -- for the purposes of rebuilding eroded coastal lands and fortifying hurricane protection. While most of the money Louisiana stands to get from new offshore oil production will not begin to flow directly to the state for 10 years, the committed revenue stream means the state can begin selling bonds to finance coastal protection projects right away. In addition, the proposed law opens up a new 8.3 million-acre tract of the Gulf to drilling, and the new sharing formula will begin for new leases in that area immediately. The legislation also extends by two years, or until 2010, Gulf Opportunity Zone -- or GO Zone -- tax credits. The GO Zone incentive, passed in late 2005, allows businesses to take a 50 percent tax reduction for new facilities or equipment in areas affected by hurricanes Katrina or Rita. Therefore, more than financing better barriers to protect against flooding from storm surge, the bill also should spur additional investment and job creation, lawmakers said. "This is not only morale boost, but an economic anchor dropped in the Gulf to secure the region," Landrieu said. The chief measure in the legislation would provide Gulf Coast states with 37.5 percent of federal royalties from new oil and gas leases off of their coasts. Incidentally, that was the same sharing formula offered by President Truman in 1949 and rejected by Louisiana in a bid to get more. That move failed and has cost the state billions of dollars since. Projected revenues for L! ouisiana under the new sharing plan are about $13 billion over the first 30 years, all of which is to be used for storm protection and coastal restoration. That is in addition to more than $8 billion in emergency spending on flood protection already committed to Louisiana and less than half spent so far, said Sen. David Vitter, R-Metairie. Applauding Louisiana's Congressional delegation, Blanco called the revenue sharing measure a "critical first step we've been waiting for as we go forward with our long-term coastal protection and restoration efforts." "This dedicated revenue stream will provide the foundation of financial support we need to ultimately complete what will be the largest public works project in our nation's history," Blanco said. The revenue sharing plan was attached to a larger tax package that included numerous provisions lawmakers favored -- ranging from extension of tax breaks for college cost s to building more energy efficient homes and protecting Medicare funds. Not all of its provisions were popular with coastal Louisiana residents. The measure also loosens restrictions on seafood imports, which Louisiana's fishing industry opposed. "I've looked at these trade provisions very, very carefully, particularly with regard to Louisiana fishermen's concerns about Vietnam," Vitter said. "Although I understand their very strong concerns, I've decided that both of these trade initiatives are, on balance, good for America and Louisiana." (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

wwltv.com article from jay

jay [wwl.blog.today@blogger.com] has sent you an article from wwltv.com. Story: Congress gives energy companies greater access to Gulf of Mexico Thank Yoy

Congress gives energy companies greater access to Gulf of Mexico 05:44 PM CST on Saturday, December 9, 2006 H. Josef Hebert / Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Congress approved expanded offshore drilling in its final hours, giving energy companies access to oil and natural gas deposits in a vast area once off limits in the Gulf of Mexico. WWL-TV / File Photo President Bush, who is expected to promptly sign the legislation, said it "will help to reduce our dependence on imported sources of energy by increasing access to domestic sources of oil and gas (and) ... strengthen our energy security." Opponents of the bill said its revised formula for sharing royalties from energy production in federal waters -- which will funnel billions of dollars to four Gulf states -- would cut into government revenue at a time when the federal government faces huge deficits. The legislation opens 8.3 million acres of Gulf waters 125 miles from the Florida Panhandle. It was part of a massive tax package that cleared the Senate early Saturday shortly before the 109th Congress adjourned. The House passed it on Friday. The bill calls for the Interior Department to begin offering leases within a year. Actual production likely would be at least four or five years beyond that. The area is believed to have 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 6 trillion cubic feet of gas, enough to heat 6 million homes for 15 years. The country uses about 21 million barrels of oil a day. The bill also will produce a revenue windfall for Louisiana and three other Gulf coast oil producing states. For the first time, the states will get 37.5 percent of future royalties from Gulf oil and gas production in federal waters off their coastlines. The money would be used for coastal restoration and hurricane recovery. They now get royalties only from production in close-in state waters. Louisiana, which has the most production off its coast, estimates it will receive more than $13 billion over the next 30 years as part of the revenue sharing, according to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. She called it a "fair share" to states adjacent to oil and gas producing waters and said it will assure "a dedicated stream of revenue" for wetlands restoration, floo! d contro l and recovery from Hurricane Katrina and future hurricanes that might hit the region. But the revenue sharing was criticized by some lawmakers. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., called it a raid on the U.S. Treasury and Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., questioned sending so much money to four states in the face of government deficits. Capps said the legislation "will cost taxpayers billions, weaken coastal protections (against drilling) in place for 25 years and does little to increase energy security." She criticized GOP leaders for attaching it to a tax package that included numerous provisions lawmakers favored -- ranging from extension of tax breaks for college costs to building more energy efficient homes and protecting Medicare funds. Environmentalists maintained the expanded offshore drilling could be a first step toward lifting the long-standing drilling bans that have been in place along both the Pacific and A tlantic coasts. Business groups embraced the drilling measure, hoping new domestic production might reduce natural gas prices. Even though it will be a number of years before any of the oil or gas will be produced from the newly opened area, John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, called Congress' action a "shot in the arm ... critical to the U.S. economy." It "significantly increases the energy security for more than 200 million Americans," added David Parker, president of the American Gas Association, the trade group that represents gas utilities. (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

wwltv.com article from jay

jay [wwl.blog.today@blogger.com] has sent you an article from wwltv.com. Story: La. looks to get major influx of funds to fix eroding coast

La. looks to get major influx of funds to fix eroding coast 09:17 PM CST on Thursday, December 7, 2006 Cain Burdeau / Associated Press The U.S. House delayed a Thursday night vote on a bill that would deliver a major shot in the arm for Louisiana's quest to shore up its sinking and frayed coast, the home of shrimp fishermen and this below-sea-level city. Associated Press File Photo House GOP leaders exiting power did not immediately say why the vote was postponed. In the Senate, GOP leaders were experiencing lingering unhappiness with the bill from several GOP senators, especially over extending trade benefits for textile exports from Haiti. If the bill passes, Louisiana could begin to see tens of millions of dollars in federal royalty payments on natural gas and oil production in the Gulf of Mexico as soon as next year. Initially, Louisiana would receive about $100 million a year, but that amount is expected to increase to more than $650 million a year by 2017. That money now goes into the federal treasury, but Congress has become more open to sharing the royalties with the Gulf states that allow drilling off their shores. The Senate would still need to approve the bill, but U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu was upbeat about the upper chamber giving it the nod. Both the House and Senate attached the drilling legislation to a package of popular tax measures. Under the bill, a vast area in the eastern Gulf, 125 miles south of Florida's panhandle, would also be opened up to drilling. The money would increase an already growing pool of funds for the state's coast. Last year, Louisiana got about $540 million in the energy bill; and since 1990 the state has had at its disposal about $50 million a year from a federal tax on outboard motors. In addition, Congress appropriated more than $3 billion to fix the New Orleans region's flood defenses in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana's delegation has sought a greater share of offshore royalties for years, arguing that coastal states are entitled to the money to repair damage the industry does to the coastline. By comparison, interior oil-producing states have long received half of federal royalties. The new money, though, would st ill fall short of fulfilling the state's needs. Scientists e! stimate that it would cost more than $20 billion to re-engineer the Mississippi River and build levees to better protect the lower parts of Louisiana vulnerable to catastrophic flooding. Offshore money "was viewed as the brass ring for so long before Katrina and Rita," said Rex Caffey, director of the Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy at Louisiana State University. But since the storms, it has become obvious that the state's needs outweigh even what this new source of money would be able to finance, he said. "It's going to be a never-ending process. If someone thinks we're going to get a lump sum of money to solve our problems, they need to look at it more closely," said Mark Ford, the deputy director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. "Unfortunately, the coast is always deteriorating." While Louisiana's congressional delegation was jubilant and self-congratulatory about the prospect of getting the funds, many questions remain about how the money will be spent and whether efforts to use the funds for coastal restoration and hurricane protection will ultimately be successful. For years the state has been embroiled in a debate on how to fix south Louisiana's problems. For the past century, the state has lost more than 2,000 square miles of coast, an area roughly the size of Delaware; meanwhile, levees are sinking, barrier islands are eroding and scientists worry that sea level rise will swamp many low-lying areas. The land loss stems mostly from human activities like oil drilling, logging and the alteration of water patterns in this swampy delta. For the past 20 years efforts have gotten under way to reverse the land loss trends, but the state continues to lose the battle with the Gulf and scientists expect more than 700 square miles of land will be lost by 2050, roughly an area the size of the greater Wa shington, D.C., area. "If we continue to l! ook at t his as little projects, instead of a programmatic approach, it's going to be a problem," said Kerry St. Pe, director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program. "We need to spend it wisely." The state has set up some mechanisms to ensure that offshore money is spent on coastal restoration. For example, voters passed a constitutional amendment on Sept. 30 that forces the funds to go into a special fund dedicated to wetlands and coastal preservation. U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-La., said Louisiana needs to show that it can spend the money in a fashion that inspires confidence in the rest of the nation that Louisiana can be trusted. "We have to keep our eyes on what happens in Baton Rouge," Jindal said. "We cannot afford to allow this money to go to political slush funds." (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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