News Staff posted on March 19, 2013 10:36
President Barack Obama proposed a new “Energy Security Trust” on Mar. 15 to fund research and development for alternative energies and more efficient fuels, but the plan is already receiving opposition from some of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
The delegation is currently pushing to increase the share of energy-leasing revenue doled out to Gulf states – an effort that directly clashes with plans to designate funds for a federal trust.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) quickly signaled her opposition to the president's plan to fund a $2 billion alternative-energy trust fund with federal revenue from offshore energy production.
“As interested as I am in research and development for alternative fuels, I will not be able to support such a proposal without first addressing the inequity that currently exists between interior and coastal states," said Landrieu in Louisiana paper The Advocate.
Louisiana Senator David Vitter (R) filed a comprehensive bill last month to increase offshore oil production revenue sharing with Louisiana and other affected states and to expand drilling access. Vitter has said his Energy Production and Project Delivery Act is intended to boost domestic energy production and economic development while also helping the “host” states that would share in the increased federal revenues.
Vitter’s bill increases the cap in the Gulf from $500 million to $1 billion from 2017 through 2024 and then hikes it to $2 billion through 2055.