| The chattering classes have been dropping New Mexico's current junior Senator Jeff Bingaman's name for Secretary of Energy.
While I respect the Senator from New Mexico for what he's done for his own state, I harbor serious concerns about making him the Secretary of Energy ... because of his views on Louisiana receiving a share of the oil royalties for offshore drilling on the outer continental shelf off our coastline:
"[Bingaman] has pushed several proposals to expand oil exploration in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. But, he says, the outer continental shelf, where offshore drilling takes place, is owned by the federal government, not the states - and channeling profits from drilling there to coastal states depletes the federal Treasury of money meant to benefit all the states."
Mr. Bingaman would do well to tour the Louisiana coast and learn the sordid history of why Louisiana didn't receive a dime in oil royalties for drilling off the coast of Louisiana period until Senator Landrieu pushed it through the Senate this past year:
Interestingly, this issue traces back to a greedy, short-sighted, racist power-broker from Plaquemines, Judge Perez. He pushed "all in" in a game of poker with Harry Truman and lost the pot:
Leander Perez is best known in Louisiana history as the bullying segregationist and powerful boss of Plaquemines Parish, who built a political and financial empire.
But when current Louisiana politicians talk about Perez, it is his stubborn refusal more than 50 years ago to cut a deal with the Truman administration over sharing offshore oil and gas royalties that dominates the conversation.
Two generations of Louisiana lawmakers have tried, so far unsuccessfully, to claim a share of the billions of dollars in revenue that Perez passed up.
None of this maneuvering would be necessary had Perez not scuttled an offer in 1949 by President Truman to settle a long-running dispute over control of the resource-rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Truman offered the state 100 percent of the royalties paid by oil and gas companies up to 3 miles from shore and 37.5 percent for anything farther out.
Perez, whose power stretched far beyond Plaquemines Parish, insisted Louisiana hold out for 100 percent of it all, the 3-mile limit and beyond.
Truman withdrew the offer, and the state has since received only a narrow slice of the estimated $155 billion in royalties paid to the federal treasury.
That coastline was decimated by the oil and gas industry in order to provide the rest of the country with cheap oil and gas. Why should Louisiana bear the entire cost of providing the country with cheap oil and gas? It's time for the rest of the country to reimburse Louisiana ... and rebuild our coastline.
Senator Bingaman has told anyone who will listen that he doesn't want the job. Let's keep it that way, as President-elect Obama can find someone who is not opposed to helping Louisiana pay for rebuilding her coastline. If he appoints Senator Bingaman, one must question the seriousness of his promise to help Louisiana rebuild and reclaim our coastline. |
