State senator defends initial reaction to moratorium-ending resolution

Dear Editor:

Under stress, we as human beings sometimes say things we don’t mean. I did just that following the BP explosion and oil spill. It could have been overlooked except for the letter writing and now billboards across Terrebonne Parish purchased by Taco Bell/KFC franchisee Greg Hamer. Greg has written several letters to the editor complaining about me over the years. This began over my support for an increase in minimum wage after no increase for 10 years.

After the deaths of 11 workers and weeks of millions of gallons of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, my emotions ran from extreme anger to extreme sadness. I saw the incomes of families whose very livelihood depends on the health of the Gulf threatened. I saw small businesses suffering. I saw the excitement and pleasure of sport fishers who place great value on the abundant resources of the Gulf diminished. I saw a very fragile ecosystem that produces the bounty of fish, shrimp and oysters being polluted.

It had become apparent that the leadership of BP didn’t know how to fix what they broke. As more millions of gallons of oil and now questionable dispersant flowed, I questioned how much more land we will lose as vegetation along the coast is killed by this combination. I watched the irony of Louisiana leaders shaking their fists at the federal government for not having a plan, some of whom last year were shaking their fist at the federal government for getting involved in big business.

I was then confronted with House Concurrent Resolution 214 on the Senate floor. The resolution complained about the losses to the oil and gas industry and urged and requested Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to end the moratorium in 30 days. My first problem was that the resolution should have gone to the Senate Natural Resources Committee before reaching the Senate floor, in compliance with the rules of the Senate. The resolution needed to be heard and amended in committee as Senate rules provide. As it was written, it was tantamount to Tony Hayward’s statement that he “wanted his life back.” When human lives had been lost, surviving workers were suffering physical and psychological trauma, small business was suffering loses and being forced to lay off employees, and oyster, shrimp and fin fishers were losing vital seasonal business, the last to receive my sympathy was foreign oil companies complaining of having to wait until we knew the cause of the disaster to go back to business as usual.

The following day in committee the resolution was amended to meet my demands with the full consent and participation of the committee. I then added my name to the resolution. Both the House author and the Senate co-author remarked that the process yielded a much better and respectful House Concurrent Resolution 214, recognizing the real loss to the state and its citizens. You can read the original version, amendments, and enrolled version online at www.legis.state.la.us.

I apologize for my emotional outburst but my heart will always be with the people of Louisiana, and I do sincerely care what you think. I ask you understand my motivation and forgive me.

Butch Gautreaux,

State Senator District 21