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 20 This post by blogger CB Forgotston draws parallels between Gov. Bobby Jindal and two individuals he probably doesn't want to be aligned with: President Obama and former governor Edwin Edwards. CB says Jindal's trying to jack up the debt ceiling (an Obama play, according to CB) and buy votes from GOP leges who normally wouldn't go for that (an Edwards play, CB says).
MAY 20 Here's a post in the Baptist Message from an alumnus of Louisiana College. The author, Larry Burgess, calls on the leadership of the private school to take care of some pressing problems. Physical plant issues are critical and unaddressed, some faculty make so little they need government health care, and there is an atmosphere that does not encourage honest discussion, he writes. It's time to get things back in order, he says.
MAY 20 This post in Gambit tells of a benefit concert scheduled to raise money for the 19 people shot during a Mother's Day second line on Frenchmen Street in NOLA. Among them was Gambit blogger Deb Cotton, who spoke frequently about violence in the city and reported on the city's second line culture. Gambit's foundation, along with other NOLA non-profits, also is selling t-shirts to raise money for the victims.
MAY 20 Blogger Robert Mann is critical of the personal interest some legislators take in their work here, sharing the comments one NOLA solon made in explaining his decision to vote against a bill that would require people to stop discriminating against female workers. His wife might lose some salary, so he was going to have to vote against the equal pay bill, Conrad Appel said. Appel and everyone who heard him should have been ashamed, but they weren't, and that's what is wrong in that building, Mann argues.
MAY 20 American Press columnist Jim Beam writes about the budget again here, urging kudos for the House and its efforts to try to fix the budget as opposed to passing on a flawed and messy rubber-stamped document as it usually does. The Senate already is poo-pooing the effort, but instead Senators should be trying to find a way to improve it as well, Beam argues. He also has some predictions in here from LABI and CABL.
MAY 20 Here's a link to the photo gallery from Tulane's graduation this past weekend. Dr. John and Allen Toussaint played together and received honorary degrees. The Dalai Lama was so entranced by their performance he got up from his seat and walked across the stage to stand next to them. He even participated in a second line with his own personal, saffron-colored umbrella. To the graduates, he urged them to think about creating a peaceful, hopeful life and society.
MAY 20 This Picayune story questions the rhetoric of NOLA officials who say the city, aside from having a "murder problem," is safe. The talking points generally are that the criminals are killing each other, but everything else is OK. The police chief there says that even Lafayette is more dangerous than NOLA. But crime experts interviewed here say that NOLA's numbers indicate one of two things: either people are so used to violence they don't report it, or somebody's "fudging the numbers."
MAY 20 The Advocate's Mark Ballard writes about some of the background maneuvering that took place during the development of budget alternatives in the Legislature. From Rep. Joel Robideaux being called a "tax and spend liberal" to robo-call influence, Ballard lets us in on some of the work that happens behind the scenes but usually doesn't make it into the Advocate's daily coverage of the session.
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