Candidates share concern for necessity of coastal restoration money
Published: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 5:56 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 6:22 p.m.
There is usually more middle ground than grounds for disagreement. And the blossoming campaign for U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's seat is no different.
Landrieu, a New Orleans Democrat, is being challenged by U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, a Baton Rouge Republican, in next year's Senate race. Cassidy's U.S. House district includes the northern parts of Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.
Both candidates have talked in recent local stops about their efforts to get oil money from the federal government so Louisiana can use it to rebuild its coast and protect residents and businesses from future flooding.
There are some minor differences in what Landrieu and Cassidy envision as the mechanism for bringing some Louisiana-generated tax money from Washington to Louisiana.
The larger and more important point here, though, is the broad area of agreement between the two candidates.
In this age of petty partisan disagreement, it says a lot that this issue enjoys such common ground.
When two people on different sides of the political spectrum can agree that a certain measure is necessary, even if they disagree on the specifics, it gives the measure some political credibility.
So it is in this case.
Louisiana has long served as the staging ground and supply line for the oil and gas industry in and near the Gulf of Mexico.
That has given our state some advantages when it came to jobs and economic investment. But it has also carried with it some environmental costs.
Unfortunately, as it stands now, states such as Louisiana that have massive oil and gas operations off their coasts get just a tiny fraction of the taxes generated from that production compared to states where energy production takes place onshore.
In recent years, the Louisiana congressional delegation has tried to level the playing field, and there has been some success.
We must keep that momentum. And their recent comments should give local people confidence that either candidate will continue fighting for this vital change.
That in itself says volumes about how compelling this issue is.
There might be subtle differences in the ways these two candidates want to approach getting more coastal money from the federal government, but there is little disagreement that it must be done.
Let's hope for success on that venture no matter who wins the election next year.
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