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Local officials advocated for the oil and gas industry and voiced their concerns over President Joe Biden’s energy policies during a joint meeting of Louisiana House and Senate Natural Resources Committees on Wednesday.
Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson, Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove, Greater Lafourche Port Commission (GLPC) Executive Director Chett Chiasson and local business leaders all took the floor to argue against executive orders coming out of the Biden administration, including the 60-day moratorium on oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal lands and waters. During his campaign, Biden promised to ban new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waters as part of a larger agenda to decrease greenhouse gases and combat climate change.
Wednesday’s speakers argued that one reason oil and gas work should stay in the country is the fact that there are higher production standards in America as opposed to other nations.
“We produce oil and gas in the state of Louisiana and in the country of the United States of America with a lower carbon footprint, lower greenhouse gas emissions than anywhere else in the world,” said Paul Danos, CEO of Danos, an oil and gas service company based out of Houma.
According to Danos, if the supply in the U.S. is constrained, it will not impact the demand for oil and gas throughout the world. All it will do is, he said, would send production to other places that don’t produce oil and gas as cleanly, as safely and as efficiently as Louisiana and the rest of the country does.
Officials also noted that alternative energy sources can still be traced to fossil fuels and major funds and efforts that go toward land restoration and protection are generated from the oil and gas industry.
For example, Chett Chiasson said, through the expansion in Port Fourchon over the years, over 1,000 acres of marsh have been generated by beneficially using dredged material. He also noted that GLPC is working on a coastal wetlands park “that will truly highlight how industry and the environment can and do thrive together.”
“None of that work is done in spite of industry but more importantly, because of industry,” Chett Chiasson said. “…We understand that there is an energy transition afoot. But for the security of our nation, it needs to be smart, calculated, reasonable, realistic, and Port Fourchon is happy to play a role in that.”
Local leaders also emphasized the need for the nation to stay energy independent.
“President Biden has led the energy industry into peril because we are going to be dependent on foreign oil like before when the United States only produced about 4 million barrels a day. And as of now, we’re doing 10 or 11 million barrels per day,” Dove said. “…Hopefully, the Biden administration will come to reality and see that they cannot go down this path of killing energy independence and driving the price of oil up to $100 a barrel.”
The parish president also noted the tax revenue that would be lost with the reduction of oil and gas production. According to Dove, 60 percent of Terrebonne Parish’s revenue is dependent on oil and gas, directly and indirectly.
If the moratorium goes beyond 60 days, Archie Chaisson said, Lafourche would have a revenue reduction of roughly 15 percent, factoring in the number of offshore vessels that would leave the parish. “So for every one boat that leaves Port Fourchon, I need 200 homes to make up that taxing difference — which is huge,” he said.
The 15 percent reduction, which equates to about $15 million a year, does not take into account the funds the parish receives from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA), which goes toward funds for coastal restoration projects.
Archie Chaisson also touched on the layoffs he feels Biden’s policies will bring. According to the parish president, 5,600 Lafourche residents work in exploration and production, 4,100 in oilfield service companies and another 4,100 in shipbuilding and maritime.
“It’s the threats to these families and the thousands like them that have kept me up the last few weeks since President Biden set this stuff into motion,” he said. “And any job loss is unacceptable.”
