Who Runs Barter Town - Master Blanco runs Barter Town

The New York times has an article today about LA governor
Blanco saying she won't allow the next lease sale if LA doesn't
get more federal help.

NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 7 — Seeking more money from Washington for hurricane relief, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco entered uncharted legal territory with a threat on Monday to block oil and gas leases worth hundreds of millions to the federal treasury unless the state received its "fair share" of the revenues.

"It's time to play hardball, as I believe that's the only game Washington understands," Ms. Blanco said Monday night as she opened the second special legislative session she has called since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita....

Back in September last year I posted a similar idea, when I read that
people were saying maybe it wasn't worth it to spend the money to
rebuild Louisiana.

Rebuilding New Orleans should be part of a comprehensive
plan to restore the surrounding barrier islands and the delta,
even if it means losing some towns down in the delta, or suburbs
like St Bernard Parish. All of this can be paid for out of revenues
from offshore oil production, which averages at $4.3 billion/year.
Also, a 5% tax on gasoline refined in Louisiana would generate
billions and have the added impact of making other people build
refineries.


I'm glad to see Blanco showing some leadership. It may be the wrong
direction, but it is doing something, which hasn't happened much in
the past six months.

And while it may be the wrong direction, I happen to think to agree
with MasterBlanco. $20, $40 or $60 billion dollars to rebuild the
coastline isn't that much when stretched over 30 years. $4 billion/yr
revenue could be used to payoff $40 billion in bonds easily when stretched
over 30 years. If the alternative is the destruction of southern lousiana,
MasterBlanco has the duty to shut off the oil.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Being in the oil business like you, though not nearly as long as I'm only 24 yrs. old, I wrote about this same topic today. I'm not sure how much Blanco can legally do, as it's really just a courtesy to allow governors to give the MMS their blessing. She could refuse to allow pipelines from federal exploration to go into or through Louisiana. Just make the process as much of a pain in the ass as possible. However, I don't subscribe to the theory that the state should stick extra taxes to the oil companies. That, in my asinine opinion, would probably only cause companies to do less exploration here, or pass on that tax to the consumers. The real battle to fight is with the federal government that has been screwing Louisiana for years on this issue.
3:43 PM
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