Increased revenue sharing a common-sense energy policy

Common sense often seems like a foreign concept to many in Washington, and domestic energy production seems more like a four-letter word than sensible policy to the same far-left crowd.

This administration is determined to prevent any expansion of domestic energy production, even though it’s clearly the common sense thing to do. Increasing energy production would immediately help address our nation’s energy, employment, and financial crises by unleashing domestic energy resources, creating millions of jobs, and generating significant federal revenues from energy production.

There’s really no disputing the fact that our nation’s domestic energy production on federal lands and waters has been stymied by this administration and is trending in the exact opposite direction of the rapid growth we’re seeing on private and state lands. Just last week I introduced a new bill, the Energy Production and Project Delivery Act of 2013, which would reverse the negative trend by increasing access to our domestic resources.

And maybe the most important part of our bill for Louisiana is that we’ll significantly increase federal offshore revenue sharing – and it doesn’t increase Washington spending by a single dime. That means more money coming into Louisiana. We produce a lot of the nation’s oil and gas here in Louisiana, and I think we deserve to be rewarded for that.

For example, states like Louisiana who produce energy off our shores only receive a small portion of the revenue generated from the production. The rest goes to the federal treasury. I’ve always said that they’re our coasts, our risk, and our workers; so we should get more of that revenue to stay here in Louisiana.

My bill does just that. It increases the cap on how much revenue coastal energy producing states like Louisiana are eligible to get. If the law isn’t changed the cap will be $500 million per year starting in 2017. My bill would increase the cap to $1 billion starting in 2017, and then up to $2 billion starting in 2025.


In Louisiana we dedicate that revenue to coastal restoration, so it’s a win-win for us. I’m proud to have 23 co-sponsors of my bill in the U.S. Senate and broad support in the U.S. House.

As always, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on how we can help more Louisiana families with the issues important to you. Please contact me with your ideas at any of my state offices or in my Washington office. You can also reach me online at http://vitter.senate.gov.