As Hurricane Dolly hits South Texas, coastal leaders from the Lone Star state joined business and environmental counterparts from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to announce a major sustainability initiative to better protect their vulnerable coastal communities and the critical infrastructure located along America’s EnergyCoast.
This region, which produces more than 90% of our nation’s offshore energy supply, faces the constant threat of hurricanes such as Dolly and massive land loss challenges caused by coastal erosion.
Recognizing that damage to the region now poses a real and immediate threat to the future of our nations’ energy stability, oil and gas industry leaders, environmentalists and the conservation community forged the unprecedented “Accord for a New Sustainability of America’s Energy Coast”.Today, they announced the Accord and outlined a plan for immediate steps that must be taken to prevent America's next energy crisis.
“America’s EnergyCoast is a working laboratory for addressing some of the most critical energy, economic and environmental sustainability challenges of the 21st Century,” said R. King Milling, Chairman of the America’s WETLAND Foundation.
“The energy production activities that take place here depend on the presence of a sustainable coast for maximum efficiency and stability, thus the balanced solutions we develop through this accord will ultimately set the course for America’s sustainable economic and environmental future.”
The working Accord brings together environmental, community and industry leaders to identify policies, best management practices and technological solutions that can be implemented to move toward a more sustainable coast and a more secure domestic energy supply.
Reaction from Officials, Energy & Environmental Leaders
The accord was unveiled at the AEC Leadership Forum in Woodlands, TX during a press conference that was held in conjunction with the National Conference of State Legislators’ 2008 Legislative Summit.Leaders from across the region noted the critical necessity for this historic accord and discussed next steps for implementing its recommendations.
"Commerce and ecology can co-exist, but energy activities must be strategically managed to achieve the multi-purpose goals of environment, energy, and economic sustainability,” Randall Luthi, Director of Minerals Management Service for the U.S. Department of the Interior. "This accord recognizes the importance of the Gulf of Mexico to the nation's energy security and emphasizes the need for MMS' continued vigilance in maintaining our focus on safe and environmentally sound activities in the Gulf."
“Shell is working with the America’s WETLAND Foundation and America’s EnergyCoast to sustain a healthy GulfCoast, as well as meet the world’s energy demands,” said Mark Hurley, President of Shell Pipeline and Chair of the AEC Industry Council. “This region is critically important to our nation’s energy security, and to solve the numerous problems we face along the GulfCoast, we must find common ground that will serve as the basis for developing real solutions. That’s what this accord is all about.”
Susan Kaderka with the National Wildlife Federation said, “The landscape of the GulfCoast is a national treasure—an ecological, economic and cultural treasure that is slipping away.As a country we need to understand that restoring this landscape is not just a big expense; it’s an important investment that will yield returns for generations to come.”
Poll Shows Widespread Public Support for America’s Energy Coast
Nine out of 10 voters in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama feel the states should work together to solve coastal issues, with only 7 percent feeling that cooperation would not help, according to findings of a recent survey conducted by The Kitchens Group of Florida.
The poll of 1,200 registered voters in the four states, conducted for the America’s WETLAND Foundation, also shows that 88 percent feel the states can have both energy production and environmental protection, with a similar number saying sustainability of both is a regional priority. Ninety percent of the people surveyed feel that the federal government has an obligation to help protect the costal region, as it supports domestic energy security.
Louisiana State Senate President Joel Chaisson, D-Destrahan, announced these findings from the National Conference of State Legislatures’ 2008 Leadership Summit adding, “This poll shows there is support among the citizens for this Accord.This isn’t just about Louisiana or our sister coastal producing states, but the economies of 31 states that depend on the Mississippi River and the GulfCoast region.”
Recognizing that our ability to meet future energy demands depends on both energy and environmental sustainability, America’s EnergyCoast began bringing together industry stakeholders, academic leaders, government officials, and national environmental organizations more than a year ago to identify actions needed to sustain energy production in an environmentally sound landscape.
The working Accord for a New Sustainability of America’s EnergyCoast outlines policy recommendations to address major challenges to sustainability which include:
·Legal and Policy Inconsistencies Impeding the Development of a Comprehensive Approach to Sustainability
·Overlapping Authorities
·Ecosystem and Landscape Vulnerabilities
·Threatened and Inadequate Infrastructure
·Coastal Communities - Culture and Economy At Risk
