Louisiana Voters To Consider Energy Revenue Amendment

On November 5, voters in Louisiana will get to decide how the state allocates money for coastal restoration. An amendment called the Louisiana Outer Continental Shelf Revenues for Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund Amendment would require federal funding the state receives from offshore alternative energy production to go toward the Coastal Restoration Fund.

The text will appear on the ballot as follows: “Constitutional Amendment No. 1 (Act No. 408, 2024 – HB 300): Do you support an amendment to require that federal revenues received by the state generated from Outer Continental Shelf alternative or renewable energy production be deposited into the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund? (Amends Article VII, Section 10.2(E)(1)”

The Coastal Restoration Fund already receives money from the state’s oil and gas industry as well as other federal sources. This amendment proposes that additional money Louisiana receives from offshore wind and solar renewable energy sources generated off the state’s coast in federal Gulf waters be allocated to the fund.

According to the non-profit Louisiana Public Affairs Research Council (PAR), Louisiana created the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Fund in 1989 to provide a dedicated source of money to coastal restoration.

In 2006, voters agreed to change the fund’s name to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund and make it the primary source of financing for state efforts to respond to coastal land loss and pay for hurricane protection needs, according to PAR. The fund pays for barrier island restoration, diversion projects, flood risk reduction efforts (levees, floodgates and pump stations), marsh creation and other work aimed at safeguarding Louisiana’s residents and businesses along the coast.

Besides diminishing funds from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill settlements and penalties, the fund’s largest revenue source comes from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which provides Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas with a portion of the revenue generated off the states’ coasts in federal waters. The federal Gulf waters begin 3 nautical miles offshore from Louisiana and continue to 200 nautical miles offshore on the Outer Continental Shelf.

A bill signed by Gov. Jeff Landry earlier this year dedicated in law the money Louisiana receives from alternative or renewable energy sources generated on state lands and water bottoms in the coastal area to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund.

According to PAR, a YES Vote would dedicate federal money Louisiana receives from alternative energy production offshore to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund, where it could only be used on projects aimed at safeguarding the coastal area. A NO Vote would allow federal money Louisiana receives from alternative energy production offshore to flow into the state general fund, where it can be spent on any legislative priority.

PAR lays out the arguments both for and against the measure.

The YES arguments:

• Louisiana doesn’t have enough money to pay for its coastal restoration and protection master plan.
• Most of the settlement and recovery dollars from the oil spill will be spent by the end of 2031.
• The state needs to identify other dollars to help cover its planned projects, and available state general fund dollars will be limited.
• Using dollars from energy production off the coast is appropriate because Louisiana’s coastal communities support and service the offshore industries that contribute to the nation’s energy production.

PAR’s NO arguments:

• Locking up dollars from offshore energy production to the coastal fund will give lawmakers less flexibility to make their own budget decisions and set their own financial priorities for the state.
• Louisiana lawmakers already have control over only a small portion of the dollars in the state budget, and this amendment will worsen that. The dollars Louisiana receives from alternative energy production should be shared across the whole state because north and central Louisiana have just as many needs as the coastal region.