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Offshore Drilling Bill Will Help Protect Our Wetlands

by La. Dem. Rep. Charles Melancon - 12/07/06 7:10 PM ET

When I travel across my district in coastal Louisiana, I see with my own eyes how our rich marshes and wetlands are disappearing. My district is literally washing away into the Gulf of Mexico. One football field of land is lost to the sea every 35 minutes. This is not only an environmental tragedy; it has taken a human toll as well. Barrier islands and coastal wetlands protect our people and communities from hurricanes by weakening deadly storm surges. No one understands the need for a serious coastal restoration effort than the people of South Louisiana.

Tonight, my colleagues in the House and I will hopefully vote on a bill that would dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars to coastal restoration and hurricane protection projects in coastal Louisiana. If passed, the Domenici-Landrieu Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (S. 3711) will deliver a significant share of the royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling to ouisiana, where we have passed a constitutional amendment mandating that the money be spent only coastal restoration and hurricane protection
projects. This is the right thing to do for Louisiana and for America. We can’t sit by and watch our country sink into sea.