Office of Coastal Management

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% 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.

Editors: For more on this topic, please contact DNR Public Information Officer Phyllis Darensbourg at 225-342-8955.