Louisiana's parish and local governments want a bigger share of revenue from development of federally managed oil and gas resources there. Utah officials simply would like more energy developed in their state.
Officials from the two states separately delivered their messages to the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at its July 22 hearing, "Leveraging America's Resources as a Revenue Generator and Job Creator."
Other witnesses emphasized the importance of promoting and preserving recreation and tourism opportunities. But the officials from Louisiana and Utah basically said their states and communities could benefit more if the federal government quit standing in the way.
"Domestic energy production is a major component of the economy in Lafourche Parish," said its president, Charlotte Randolph, who also testified on behalf of the National Association of Counties. "It directly, and indirectly, generates tens of thousands of jobs which in turn generate millions of dollars to our local community and state."
Some $2.8 billion came to the federal government from the sale in 2013 of oil and gas leases in waters off Louisiana's coast, Randolph noted in her written statement. Median household income in Lafourche Parish is higher than Louisiana overall, she said, "but you must remember that people require services that the parish provides-including law enforcement and courts, emergency management, infrastructure maintenance and development, and environmental protection, to name just a few.
"It is critical that the federal government share natural resource development revenue proportionally with the counties that support and are affected by that development, as they are responsible for the needs of the citizens they serve," Randolph said.
'Arcane processes'
Utah's situation is aggravated by the federal government controlling 70% of the public land there, according to Laura Nelson, who directs the Governor's Energy Development Office. "Utah is willing-and has proven itself able-to manage its natural resources effectively, but we remain subject to arcane federal regulatory processes that hinder our natural, environmentally responsible economic growth," she said in her written testimony.
In addition to those federal regulatory processes, Utah has seen the US Bureau of Land Management reduce lease offerings and issue fewer permits since Barack Obama became president, Nelson said. "Annually, this administration's BLM has leased less than 30% as much land as during the Bush administration in any given year," she said.
Nelson said that Utahns have noticed the Obama administration's preference for solar energy over oil shale and oil sands, but added that of 19 solar projects there that signed contracts in the past year to supply power to PacifiCorp, the state's biggest electric utility, not one is to be constructed on federal land.
