U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D., announced that Louisiana is receiving a total of $156,329,442 in revenue from the Department of the Interior from energy produced in the Gulf of Mexico during Fiscal Year (FY) 2023.
Louisiana constitutionally dedicates revenues from offshore energy production to pay for conservation, restoration, and environmental projects to preserve and restore its eroding coastline.
Dr. Cassidy said the revenue will be used to improve the lives of all who call South Louisiana home by rebuilding coastlines and better protecting coastal communities.
The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA), which was signed into law in 2006, created a revenue sharing program between the federal government and the States of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development activities off their coasts to benefit the nation.
Last February, Cassidy introduced the bicameral and bipartisan Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies & Ecosystems (RISEE) Act. The RISEE Act would both return GOMESA to its original intent and create a new dedicated stream of funding from offshore wind development for coastal protection and resiliency. Specifically, it would eliminate the state revenue sharing cap, currently at $375 million, and lift the Land & Water Conservation Fund’s state-side funding cap of $125 million. Simply lifting the cap on state revenues could send nearly $2 billion over 10 years to the state of Louisiana for conservation.
While the state of Louisiana received $125,063,554 for 2023, local parish amounts include: $1,325,121 for Livingston, $1,770, 846 for St Tammany, and $1,270,079 for Tangipahoa.
