U.S. reps worry ocean policy will block development

Dozens of U.S. representatives, including every member of Louisiana’s House delegation, sent a letter to the head of the President’s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force with concerns that the policy will block offshore energy development and cost jobs. Sixty-nine House members signed the letter in which they responded to the task force’s interim report released last month. The task force is working on a national policy for governance of the country’s oceans, coasts and Great Lakes. Two-dozen senior policy members from numerous agencies are working on the national policy. Rep. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Baton Rouge, says an interim report “reflects an ideology that is at odds with American energy independence and job creation in the energy economy.” The letter was sent to Nancy Sutley, the ocean policy task force chairwoman. Fifty-nine Republicans and 10 Democrats signed it. The letter says policies and principles laid out in the interim report focus heavily on environmental stewardship while not sufficiently supporting economic development of ocean resources and recreational uses. “We are particularly concerned about the task force’s impact on our nation’s ability to safely develop its own offshore energy, including oil, natural gas and renewable energy,” it read. The letter cites an American Energy Alliance report that says expanding drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf would generate 1.2 million jobs and $70 billion in additional wages annually, while increasing economic output by $8 trillion and $2.2 trillion in total tax receipts.