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DNR Secretary Angelle meets with Senator Landrieu and others at nation’s Capitol

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle spoke to several members of Congress today, including U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (LA) and U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (NM) to emphasize the state's role as an energy provider to the rest of the country. Senator Landrieu scheduled the meeting in Washington, D.C. with DNR Secretary Angelle and members of PACE (Parishes Against Coastal Erosion) headed by Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard.

The group was asked to give comments to the Senator Domenici, Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee and to U. S. Representative Joe Barton (TX), who now chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. In early February, Senator Domenici and U.S. Representative Billy Tauzin (LA) introduced a national energy bill that would have authorized coastal protection funding to the state. Since then, several versions of the energy bill have emerged and have stalled in both chambers.

The PACE group was recently organized by local officials and representatives from the state’s coastal parishes that wanted to unite efforts to educate the public and lawmakers at all levels of the importance of funding coastal restoration projects in Louisiana. St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Terrebonne, Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Lafourche, St. Charles, Cameron, St. Mary, and Calcasieu parishes also sent local government officials to participate in the meetings held today.

Secretary Angelle presented both chairman and their staff’s with a 30-page report produced by the department that gives an historical and current perspective on how Louisiana serves the nation's energy needs. The report makes the case that Louisiana serves as America's Energy Corridor. The seven-part report points to the coexistence of refineries, ports, pipelines, and salt caverns along with wetland resources and ecology along the Gulf of Mexico. It also cites the important economic benefits derived from wetland resources in Louisiana.

Since 2002, Louisiana's public awareness and educational campaign known as America's Wetland: Campaign to Save Coastal Louisiana has received national attention in major newspapers and broadcast media including a three-page special article in BusinessWeek magazine published in December 2003. The state has a coastal land loss rate of close to 25 square miles a year. Coastal restoration efforts require millions of dollars each year and for the past 13 years both federal and state monies have been allocated to battle the problem.

Secretary Angelle said he was encouraged by Governor Kathleen Blanco to present the DNR energy impact report to the Louisiana delegation and other members of Congress. According to Governor Blanco, “America is counting on Louisiana to satisfy her appetite for energy, and this state has been good to our nation’s consumers.”

Editors: For more information on this topic, please contact the DNR Public Information Office at 225-342-8955and/ or e-mail requests for the DNR report to info@dnr.state.la.us.