Protecting our environment for the future

April 27
April 23, 2007
April 25
April 25, 2007
April 27
April 23, 2007
April 25
April 25, 2007

I grew up along the banks of Bayou Teche in a time when most families didn’t know to worry about water quality or air pollution. As I watch my grandchildren grow and make their own memories, I recognize that times have changed. We have a tremendous responsibility to protect our environment and preserve our great state.


My team and I are working to ensure that our state remains a beautiful place to call home. The dedicated men and women within the Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries are implementing my environmental agenda.


We’ve proven that we can achieve economic development and protect the environment. I personally advanced a new law to encourage consistent environmental clean-up standards in the oil and gas industry. This is a tremendous step forward from legacy lawsuits that traditionally left sites damaged and created an uncertain business climate.

I demanded that Louisiana’s newest planned offshore liquefied natural gas plant use environmentally safer closed-loop rather than open-loop technology. The company changed its design and chose to embrace technology producing a smaller threat to our environment.


Areas once only thought of as environmental wastelands are now fertile ground for new development. We are transforming “brownfields,” abandoned industrial properties that pose environmental threats, into sites for economic development with the support of the Environmental Protection Agency.


This new approach to balancing economic development with environmental quality builds on other programs that are making a difference throughout our state.

Louisiana was the first state in the nation to adopt rules for the control of naturally occurring radioactive materials. The standards developed are being used throughout the country.

Louisiana now meets the one hour standard for air quality and air toxic standards. I ordered facilities emitting these dangerous substances to install air monitoring stations. Additionally, a new state of the art RV will be used to monitor air quality and to keep citizens and emergency responders safe from toxins during emergencies.

To protect the Sportsman’s Paradise, our aggressive Clean Waters Program brings new life to surface waters declared polluted for fish and wildlife and unsafe for swimming. Several programs, including the Wildlife Action Plan protect and manage Louisiana’s species and habitats.

Of course, one of Louisiana’s greatest treasures and most endangered areas is our fragile coastline. Whether in a courtroom or at the ballot box, I am doing everything I can to protect our coast.

In 2006, I paved the way for our victory in offshore drilling revenue sharing by blocking future offshore lease sales through a successful historic lawsuit against the federal government. I established the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and pushed for passage of constitutional amendments dedicating all OCS revenues to protecting Louisiana’s coast and hurricane restoration. We increased the state contribution to wetlands restoration programs and secured $540 million in federal assistance for saving our coastline.

Our sound environmental policy is making a real difference, but it is only part of the conservation equation. Each and every day, even through the smallest actions, all of us can make a real difference for the environment.