An effort to pass the Restore Act by Louisiana lawmakers failed Wednesday in the House. The act would send 80 percent of fines from the Clean Water Act from the 2010 BP oil spill to Gulf Coast states affected by the spill.
The Restore Act is part of the $109 billion Senate transportation bill which funds highway, bridge and transit projects. It expires March 31. The Senate passed the bill 74-22.
According to the Times-Picayune, the House will take up a 90-day extension of the current transportation bill. Apparently, House Speaker John Boehner apparently went for the extension because he cannot get the votes for a GOP $260 billion, five-year transportation bill.
Some conservative Tea Party members say the bill is too expensive. They cite a decline in federal gas taxes because Americans have cutback on driving and are purchasing more fuel efficient vehicles because of high gas prices.Democrats have issues with provisions that would fund some of the spending through an increase for inland and offshore oil and gas development.
"House Republicans continue to show that they value ideology instead of job creation and coastal restoration," says Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce not only backs the bill with environmental and business groups, but it also questions why existing law "does not allow for allocation of any of the funds collected to be directed towards the environmental or economic recovery of the impact areas," as K. Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the Chamber, wrote to Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson. "The RESTORE Act would remedy this inequity by creating the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund to be funded by redirecting 80 percent of the civil penalties collected by the Environmental Protection Agency."
In the meantime, Jill Mastrototaro, Gulf Coast campaign director of the Sierra Club, sent out a petition via email today getting on the EPA about the reportedly hundreds of dead dolphins, whales and sea turtles that have been washing up on the Gulf's shores since the 2010 spill, as well as the inexplicable illnesses suffered by coast residents.
Mastrototaro wants the EPA to let the public know what exactly was in the dispersant chemicals dumped into the Gulf to breakdown the oil that gushed forth after the April 20, 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 and injured 17 others.
The petition states: "Two years after the BP oil spill, the public can only know the brand name of the chemicals used, but not what's in them. The EPA needs to decide what is more important - company secrets or the health of the public and our environment.
"Until we find out what's going on, we can't protect the dolphins or ourselves. Make sure the EPA stands up for the Gulf. Tell EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to protect public health and the environment - we need to know what's in our waters!
"This year, communities across the Gulf Coast have been pushing for better EPA regulation of oil dispersants and full disclosure of the ingredients in these toxic chemicals."
To see the petition, go here.
MAY 23 Here's a story in the Picayune about some statistics that must come as a blow to folks who believe that any private school can do a better job of educating kids than any public school: Danielle Dreilinger reports that only 30 percent of the voucher kids are passing. That's less than half of the state wide average, she says. It's an interesting statistic because most of the schools (if not all) taking voucher kids have never had their students' standardized test scores released to the public before.
MAY 23 Stephen Sabludowsky blogs on Bayou Buzz about auditor requests here. Recently the state GOP started crowing about a request from the Legislative Auditor, claiming they were being targeted because of their anti-tax stance. (Uh, your what?) Denial and hyperbole aside, the state Democratic party blew holes in that theory with an email announcing they'd received the same request, Sabludowsky writes here.
MAY 23 Jim Brown blogs about the senate race in this post. He says that, given Bobby Jindal's "lack of traction" on the national stage, it might make more sense for the governor to consider running against Mary Landrieu for the senate seat. Since Tim Teeple left the Cassidy team, it makes sense he might land on a Jindal for Senate team, Brown opines.
MAY 23 In this Louisiana Voice post, blogger Tom Aswell writes of rumors that his nemesis, state Superintendent of Education John White, may be soon departing Louisiana for a federal post. It's hard to believe, given his performance, Aswell says, but stranger things have happened. An anti-White BESE member says that, if true, White is quitting before he can be fired.
MAY 23 In this post on American Zombie, blogger Jason Berry writes about the Mother's Day shooting. Mayor Landrieu said that "this is not who we are," but the fact is, this is New Orleans, Berry writes. The violence infused in the city is the result of a culture created by "sins of omission or sins of commission," Berry writes. It's not a problem that can be solved by legislating, policing, praying or publicizing, he says: Someone's got to understand what's happening first.
MAY 23 This post in the Westside Journal tells us what Port Allen Mayor Deedy has been up to lately: vetoing ordinances, apparently. This story is most interesting, however, when it delves into a petition that has been circulating around the city lately. It accuses the former mayor of a lot of nasty things; the former mayor says it is full of lies and "broken syntax" which may be a larger offense in his eyes.
MAY 23 This editorial posted in The Advocate is a bit confusing. The writing is poor - definitely not up to the usual editorial writing standard there - and the point is hard to grasp. Apparently, the writer is saying that privatization of state efforts is OK, as long as there is oversight and transparency, but Jindal's not good at that, and the legislature shouldn't over-react. Okey Dokey. Can't they get one of them Pulitzer-winning people to write an editorial?
MAY 23 This post on The Lens gives you links to a new Google Earth tool that allows you to see any spot on earth transform over the past 30 years. Bob Marshall, who covers the coast for the paper, says that in the case of Louisiana's coastline, it's possibly something you don't want to see, because it's not a pretty picture. There are several clips here, showing critical areas erode away. For Marshall, it was vindication for all those times he was met with eye-rolling when he talked about erosion.
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