Bromwich, we won’t be denied

The cliche, “Ignore it and it will go away,” is also a falsehood that has been perpetuated for generations and applied to various situations.

Ignoring a health problem does not eliminate sickness, nor does ignoring rotten timbers strengthen a structure. In the first case, dismissing illness will only allow the advancement of disease, often until it becomes terminal. In the second scenario, an unattended building will ultimately collapse in ruins as it decays from a lack of maintenance.

The phrase, “Ignore it and it will go away,” is commonly applied to dealing with relationships or the uncomfortable behavior of others. In this case too, such an approach might hide an unpleasant condition, but fails to address the festering issue.

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich has been exercising the, “Ignore it and it will go away,” philosophy toward southern Louisiana and U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry.

Bromwich refused to meet with Landry during a trip to New Orleans and has proven unresponsive to the needs of our region following the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster of April 2010.

Direct and de-facto drilling moratoriums have impacted the petroleum industry and negatively influenced the larger economy of not only Louisiana, but the rest of the nation.

Landry announced Thursday that, under pressure, Bromwich’s office called him and left a message indicating interest in scheduling a meeting, only after the congressman publicly revealed Bromwich’s slight. As of Monday, no meeting date or time had yet been determined.

Bromwich is a Harvard Law School graduate, licensed in New York and the District of Columbia. This might explain some of his demonstrated attitude of ignoring anything west of the Potomac River and south of the latitude 36 degrees and 32 minutes north.

Agree with him or not, Landry, a freshman Republican representative from New Iberia, is rightly recognized for his tenacity. He is not conveniently ignored, and should not be easily dismissed.

The people of Louisiana cannot afford to allow decision-makers in Washington to ignore us. As one of the primary U.S. working coasts, the nation cannot afford to ignore us. Nor can we afford to ignore the rest of the country.

We want Bromwich to take Landry’s resolute determination seriously and stop ignoring both him and the people of southern Louisiana. Listen to us. We are not going away.