Thursday, June 15, 2006
Blanco attacks offshore oil and gas lease sale
By CAIN BURDEAU
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Gov. Kathleen Blanco on Wednesday upped the ante in her offensive to get billions of dollars from offshore oil and natural gas royalties for Louisiana, formally objecting to an August sale of federal drilling leases off the state's coast.
Caryl Fagot, a Minerals Management Service spokeswoman in New Orleans, said, "We're waiting to receive the letter and we'll review it."
A major plan to save the coast would run into the billions of dollars. One blueprint puts the cost at $14 billion.
Allan Pulsipher, a professor with Louisiana State University's Center for Energy Studies, was not so sanguine about Louisiana's chances of getting Congress to approve a new funding system.
"It's kind of Louisiana against the other states," Pulsipher said.
Allies are lacking, he said, because Louisiana would reap the biggest benefits because so much of the nation's offshore exploration occurs off the Louisiana coast.
He said the chances of any legal challenge Blanco might bring are uncertain, and added that a lawsuit might not result in any delay in the lease sale, slated for mid-August.
