Conservation Groups Underscore Support for Critical Coastal Restoration Funding for Louisiana

(NEW ORLEANS – November 14, 2017) Signed into law in 2006, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) allows for the sharing of 37.5 percent of qualified Outer Continental Shelf oil drilling revenues with oil-producing Gulf Coast states. Louisiana voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment committing GOMESA funds to be used exclusively for restoration and protection activities. Now in Phase II, revenues from GOMESA to the State of Louisiana are expected to be nearly $100 million in 2018.

National and local conservation organizations committed to coastal Louisiana restoration – Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation – issued the following statement in support of this funding:

“GOMESA provides funding vital for the restoration of our nationally-significant coast and the protection of our people, industries and abundant wildlife. Louisiana continues to lose coastal land at an alarming rate, and this funding is critical in allowing the State of Louisiana to advance large-scale restoration and risk reduction measures to better protect its people.

“The citizens of Louisiana have done their job by dedicating this funding for coastal protection and restoration, and our state legislature recently unanimously passed a leading, science-based plan that helps ensure we maintain as much of our coastal land as possible. Now is the time for Congressional leaders to keep their commitments to the people of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, who have contributed so much to the nation’s economy and well-being. After one of the most devastating hurricane seasons on record, there should be no question as to how vital this funding is to the people of Louisiana and across the Gulf Coast. In order to maintain the health and vitality of this nationally-significant region, this funding must be protected.”