Conservation Win for the Ages: Now is the Time to Ensure it Stays That Way
Known for its filet gumbo, etouffee, Mardi Gras, and zydeco, South Louisiana is a foreign country to many, better resembling, in many ways, the Caribbean, an agrarian France or a Sicilian fishing community than America itself. But my home state is strategically important not only for the rich diversity we bring to our American culture but also for national security, our national economy and conservation of wildlife and public lands from sea to shining sea. Energy production in the Gulf of Mexico fuels all these benefits and President Trump and Congress just took a resounding step to strengthen the need for a sustainable working coast by enacting the Great American Outdoors Act.
Offshore energy producers have faced severe challenges in recent years, and the toll of COVID-19 has been especially pronounced for American energy producers. While I was proud to be a part of developing the Great American Outdoors Act in Congress, I know for this conservation win to succeed in the long run, our country needs to continue and expand leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
The federal revenue raised by offshore energy production and its impacts felt across our country in our public lands are out-sized compared to onshore production. Last year, the federal government collected approximately $12 billion in revenue from energy production; and, nearly 60 percent of that production, over $6 billion worth, occurred on the OCS.
The Great American Outdoors Act automatically reserves $900 million of offshore mineral revenue for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) each year. Since 1964, nearly every county in America has benefited from LWCF, in places like playgrounds and historic landmarks in Boston, the everglades in Florida, iconic public lands in Montana and Colorado, and beaches in North Carolina and Hawaii. LWCF has improved access to millions of acres of public lands for sportsmen and women and provides grants to states to help protect vulnerable wildlife species.
The Great American Outdoors Act expanded the reach of Gulf of Mexico energy revenues further to infrastructure of our National Parks and other public assets. Our National Parks, public lands and wildlife are certainly American treasures worth protecting; and, so is Louisiana’s working coast powering the energy to make conservation possible. Indeed, welders, shipbuilders, drilling technicians and seamen from all over the U.S risk their lives every day to power these benefits for our country.
Offshore energy production helps Louisiana combat coastal land loss and strengthen our resilience to catastrophic hurricanes through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA). Louisiana has adopted a 50 year, $50 billion coastal master plan to rebuild our coast. This plan for coastal resilience requires both immediate and long-term sustainability of a robust energy industry in the Gulf. Just as equal to our gator hunts, waterfowl season, and snapper hauls, offshore energy production in South Louisiana is critical to our way of life.
Over the past ten years lease sale revenue in the Gulf of Mexico has dropped over 91%, declining investment in conservation priorities. More recently, well starts and rig counts are at historic lows due to the economic turmoil caused by COVID-19 signaling a more severe decline in production for years ahead. Significant capital cuts have occurred across the energy sector, meaning projects are lost that would yield important production to fund GOMESA and Great American Outdoors Act programs for future generations.
Our National Parks and public lands help make our country uniquely American. Without close attention to the sustainability and expansion of offshore energy production in the Gulf of Mexico we may risk the largest recent investment this country has made to conservation.