Louisiana official says Gulf Coast needs Marshall Plan equivalent

Washington (Platts)--7Sep2005

A Louisiana official Wednesday told the US House Energy and Commerce
Committee that his state requires the equivalent of a Marshall Plan to rebuild
energy and other critical infrastructure. 
     "Louisiana needs the rest of America more now than ever before, and
America needs Louisiana and its lifeblood energy supply more now than ever
before," Scott Angelle, secretary of the Louisiana Dept of Natural
Resources, told the panel. "The US had a Marshall Plan to rebuild Germany, the
defeated enemy, after World War II. The US now needs to institute a massive
rebuilding plan for its own people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama."
     In remarks prepared for the panel, which is considering the impact of
Hurricane Katrina on US energy supplies, Angelle said the storm's effects
reinforce the Louisiana's earlier requests for more revenue from oil and
natural gas development in federal offshore waters. 
     "With effective policies and incentives, the federal government can steer
investment to offshore areas, and by receiving an equitable share of revenue
generated offshore, the coastal producing states can be in a position to
ensure that this production will be made available to the rest of the nation,"
Angelle said. "Louisiana desperately needs immediate revenue-sharing financial
assistance from a source not subject to annual appropriations to continue to
maintain existing and to develop future energy supplies for the nation."
     At a House hearing in August, Angelle said a $1-bil Coastal Impact
Assistance Program authorized by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was
far from adequate to address erosion caused by oil and gas drilling in the
Gulf. Half of that fund, which is not subject to congressional appropriations,
would go to Louisiana. Angelle said at the time that Louisiana would need
$14-bil over 20 to 30 years to restore its coastline.

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