Gov. John Bel Edwards’ decision to press ahead with coastal lawsuits against oil and gas companies favors trial lawyers and not the middle class, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry told the Acadiana Chapter of the American Petroleum Institute on Monday. Landry also said the litigation is plaguing oil and gas companies, The Advertiser reports.
Parishes that have sued the energy industry include St. Bernard, Cameron, Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines and Vermilion. The parishes blame oil and gas companies for land loss and damages to Louisiana’s coastline.
Landry said his office met earlier this year with representatives of the coastal parishes and a representative of the governor’s office to ask them not to file additional suits while he sought an agreement involving all parties. He also contends the governor’s decision to hire private attorneys to represent the state must be approved by him.
The governor’s office, meanwhile, says Landry’s role in hiring the private attorney is limited to making sure they are qualified.
Edwards’ spokesman Richard Carbo says the attorney general, state Department of Natural Resources and the governor’s office had been in initial agreement in pressing for legal action against the oil and gas companies over coastal problems, but that Landry changed his mind.
Carbo suggests there was an “ongoing problem with the attorney general trying to overstep his role with the governor’s office,” instead of Landry “working with the governor.”
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