Here are some arguments that need to be made at the meeting and included in the public record of the event. I believe these should be GreenARMY points and have sent them to General Honoré. Were still discussing how these will be handled. Again, these are state perspectives and St. Tammany residents should make their own arguments against the issuance of the permit. • DNR is Unfit to Decide on the Permit Due to a Long, Documented History of Bias in Favor of Industry The Legislative Auditors report of November 27, 2013 (see link) said that severance tax collection authority was moved from the Department of Revenue to DNR for two years beginning in FY 2011. During that time, the Auditor found, severance tax collections fell by 99.8% because DNR failed to do the job it had been contracted to do through an interagency agreement with DoR. The result was a loss in revenue to the state and an increase of revenue for the companies (did the companies return the uncollected severance taxes to the property owners?). As a result of DNRs inaction, the interests of companies were served at the direct and indirect expense to state taxpayers and citizens. This constitutes a breach of DNRs obligation to serve the people of this state and not the companies they ostensibly regulate. DNR does not recognize or chooses to ignore its role as a government entity with constitutional obligations that extend beyond satisfying the interests of their patrons/partners in the oil and gas industry. Can there be a legal challenge filed to remove DNR/OoC jurisdiction from this permit based on this long record of bias? • The Office of Conservation has colluded with industry against the interests of the citizens of this state. The Baton Rouge Advocate documented the fact that the Office of Conservation knew as early as January 2010 that Texas Brine had experienced problems pressurizing their storage cavern in the Napoleonville Salt Dome. Despite earlier cavern failures in that area, the Office of Conservation did not share this information with emergency responders, law enforcement agencies or property owners in the 18 months between the problems with the storage cavern were evident and the appearance of what is now known as the Bayou Corne Sinkhole. The Office of Conservation engaged in a conspiracy of silence with Texas Brine at the expense of local authorities and property owners. DNR itself played dumb about bubbles appearing in the bayou when officials in the department (in the form of OoC officials) knew what the likely source of those bubbles were. Again, OoC and DNR protected the interests of industry at the expense of the interests of the people, in this case the people of Bayou Corne and Assumption Parish. In Baton Rouge, the Office of Conservation has blocked attempts to develop meaningful water use policies that would wean industry (particularly ExxonMobil and Georgia Pacific) of their use of water from the Southern Hills Aquifer. Instead, OoC and its Commissioner have stalled the development of such policies which have allowed industry to continue its rampant use of the water, worsening salt water intrusion issues and forcing consumers and businesses in the region to absorb the cost of efforts to deal with the salt water intrusion. The alternative would be to implement policies that require massive industrial water users to draw their water from the Mississippi River (thereby easing demand on the Southern Hills Aquifer) as do other companies located on the river south of Baton Rouge. Once again, OoC has protected the interests of industry at the expense of the interests of the general public. This is a persistent bias that reveals itself in the rulings and decisions of OoC. • State and Local Governments Derive No Economic Benefit from the Development of Shale Oil & Gas Plays Thanks to the 1994 passage of the Severance Tax Exemption on Horizontal Drilling, Louisiana receives little if any severance tax revenue from shale oil and gas plays in the state. The tax was enacted as an attempt to stimulate the use of what was then considered an experimental drilling technology — horizontal drilling in combination with hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The exemption is for two years or until the cost of drilling the well is paid. The Haynesville Trend in northwest Louisiana proved that the technology has moved beyond the experimental phase. Haynesville was at one time the most productive shale gas field in the country. Louisiana, according to legislative reports, has given up on hundreds of millions of dollars in severance tax revenue it would have otherwise derived from the production in the Haynesville Trend. It stands to lose even more money off production in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale as that play has an estimated 7 BILLION barrels of oil trapped in shale. Again, with this exemption in place, the state will lose hundreds of million (and ultimately billions) in severance tax revenue. Still, spokespeople for Helis continue to talk about revenue for governments. This is a lie. State and local governments might might some royalties off minerals produced on their lands but losing severance tax revenue cuts government — and the taxpayers of Louisiana — off from the real wealth that these mineral resources hold. Severance tax revenues are the pillar of the oil industrys myth of benevolence in Louisiana — that is, severance tax revenues are what built the roads, schools, hospitals and universities that the industry likes to cite as the basis for their generosity. The Severance Tax Exemption on Horizontal Drilling denies Louisiana taxpayers our small, but fair share of the mineral wealth of this state and it undercuts one of the two myths that serve as the basis for the industrys exalted political status in the state. • Governing Magazine recently cited local governments as the losers in areas where fracking takes place due to the pressure on roads and infrastructure. Without severance tax revenue trickling down from the state, local governments in Louisiana are left without the means to respond to burdens that fracking will impose on them. • There will be no jobs developed in St. Tammany Parish as a result of fracking by Helis. Drilling crews will not be local hires. Truck drivers will not be local hires. Disposal of wastes will not take place locally. The jobs myth is just a flat out lie, as is the revenue myth. There may be other points to be made, but these are key points that I believe the GreenARMY can and should make while letting the locals make their own case on their own terms.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:23:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015