A Piece Of The Pie

Rep. Bobby Jindal has reintroduced a measure to Congress to obtain the money the state needs to improve it's diminishing coastline due to energy exploration.

If the bill does pass, Jindal said it could mean an immediate economic boost of $600 million per year for Louisiana until 2010. At the time, the revenue stream would increase to $1 billion per year and continue trending upwards before topping out at $2 billion.

I just hope the money is not spent in the usual manner.

Some people might wonder why the rest of the country should spend taxpayer money to help the state. What they don't realize is the contribution that Louisiana makes to the rest of the country not withstanding Mardi Gras.

I'm sure everyone remembers the gasoline price spike that occured when Katrina shut down numerous refineries, pipelines, and rigs along the Gulf Coast. If Louisiana's oil and gas industry did not exist, you can expect to pay $6/gal. again. And the price that south Louisiana has paid for the rest of the country to have cheap gas is enormous. Only now have we asked that we get our fair share.

For years we enjoyed the good life and didn't care much that we were considered second class citizens. Now, having been through a natural disaster, the magnitued that most Americans cannot fathom, we are simply asking that we get the same deal that other states have when it comes to oil and gas exploration.

Louisianans will long remember those who stood with us and those who have forsaken us.