Baton Rouge (FNS)-Facing both a massive oil slick from a sunken offshore drilling platform and a second year of declining tourism revenues along the Louisiana Gulf Coast caused by high gas prices, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal today introduced a new tourism promotion that he reports is going to "...make lemons into lemonade".
Jindal, flanked by British Petroleum's Director of Marketing Dick Timoneous and the Executive Director of the Louisiana State Tourism Board, Jenna Talia, announced that the "All The Oil You Can Carry Festival" would officially commence today just east of New Orleans, and last at least through the month of May.
Congressman Steve Scalise (R-Village Idiot) recently told a group of his constituents in the Lakeview section of New Orleans that "at some point, our country needs to get its head out of the sand" when it comes to a national energy policy.
While his choice of words was poor, I agree that we need to have a better national energy policy. I think most Americans would agree with that. But Mr. Scalise and our erstwhile President George W. Bush differ greatly on what that that better national energy policy should be, as evidenced by Scalise's statements to his constituents and that link to the White House page on energy above:
Scalise also emphasized the need for oil exploration and drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, off the coast of California and in the Florida Everglades.
"I strongly support increased oil production,'' he said, adding that OPEC is not going to increase supplies to meet the growing demand. "We've got the answer right here in our own country. We've got reserves all throughout our country.''
Scalise said Louisiana is an example that oil exploration and drilling can be achieved without harming the environment.
"We've proven you can do it in an environmentally safe way,'' he said.
""...Let me start first by telling you that America has got to change its habits. We've got to get off oil."
While I don't necessarily believe that President Bush believes what he said up there ... it's still telling that the head of Mr. Scalise's party is saying the direct opposite of what Mr. Scalise is saying.
Now, back to Scalise's statements to his constituents ... there are a few problems:
1. Drilling in ANWR is politically unpopular.
2. Florida will raise bloody hell if we attempt to allow drilling off their coast, which is a tourist draw.
3. Ditto California.
4. Perhaps Scalise may want to talk to the good folks over at U.S. Coast Guard and the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office to find out that some EIGHT MILLION GALLONS OF OIL were spilled in the aftermath of Katrina.
But more importantly, where does conservation rank in Scalise's energy policy? Renewable energy, such as the sun and wind, both of which Louisiana has an abundance of? Is he serious about bringing business to Louisiana? If so, he should seek to bring green jobs to Louisiana ... but then again, we are talking about Steve Scalise.
(While I do not recall fondly the high gas prices I paid working for the Lamont for Senate campaign in '06 in CT, I am unsure if drilling is the only answer. I realize it may be part of the answer, but we also need to do more than just drill ... such mandating higher gas mileage (40 mpg minimum by 2010) from Detroit automakers, investing in alternative energy sources (such as solar, wind, and biofuels), among others. I do not believe that nuclear power is the answer, as we will have to deal with radioactive waste, and where to store it. That's a headache I'd rather not argue over. - promoted by ryan)
Has America become so homogenized that we are thinking more alike regardless of what part of the country we come from? We all get the same evening news, the same TV shows, and the same radio talking heads telling us what, in their opinion, our opinion should be. Are Louisiana's interests and priorities along the same track as those expressed by locals along the east coast? I decided to take a look ...
I make it a habit of taking a road trip somewhere around the country every few months, to get a sense of outside perspectives on Louisiana, and what we do or do not have in common with other parts of the country. In New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts this week, I found the same issues on the front burner that concern many Louisianians, but often different opinions.
Katrina and Rita were catastrophes that have faded from memory, and are stories for the history books for most of these easterners. They had "moved on" from any major concern a long time ago. This might well be as much a reflection on Louisiana leaders who failed to develop a major public relations effort to keep the hurricane protection problem on the front burner.
