It is that time of the year again! Our second Lunch & Learn of 2020 will be held (as scheduled) next Thursday June 18, 2020 from 12-1 PM. As with most meetings nowadays, next week’s meeting will be conducted using Zoom. You will need to pre-register for the Zoom meeting in order to attend. Please follow the instructions below. You will receive the meeting link after you register.
The focus of next week’s meeting is something that we should all be very concerned about: funding for coastal projects! ASBPA Central Gulf Coast Chapter Board of Directors member Jack Koban (FUGRO) and former Senator Mary Landrieu (Louisiana) will be talking about GOMESA funding and the efforts of the GOMESA Revenue Sharing Commission to lift the revenue sharing cap that limits the amount of funds sent to the energy-producing gulf states for coastal projects. Since 2006, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) has provided the energy-producing states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama with critical funding for coastal restoration and protection projects through the sharing of royalties generated by offshore oil & gas leases. In 2019, coastal stakeholders from these 4 states formed the GOMESA Revenue Sharing Coalition to advocate for the protection of these funds, elimination of the current cap, and for an increase in the overall percentage of lease revenue that goes back to fund coastal restoration. The nation depends upon the Gulf Coast for energy security and independence, and in turn, we depend on the funding provided by GOMESA sustainability and in some cases, their very existence of our coastal environments and communities. We encourage you to attend this Lunch & Learn on June 18, 2020 where we’ll provide a brief history of GOMESA and offer current news on an important piece of legislation described below.
Lunch & Learn Zoom Information
You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Jun 18, 2020 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://southalabama.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqcOGvqz0vG9CANwGNYCgL8-uaSV-E5wLR
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
—
We acknowledge that there are a lot of monumental events happening in our society right now. While it may seem insensitive to describe the importance of GOMESA funding when there are so many other issues deserving of our collective focus, we could really use your help to improve the outlook for GOMESA in years to come. Please read the message below. This information was provided by George Winfrey. George works on coastal issues for the Louisiana Governor’s office. I am including (below the statement) the phone numbers and web contact pages for your state senators below. If you are so inclined, please use this information to contact your elected officials. I think they are tired of hearing from me… and they have been hearing from me a lot in the past two weeks!
GOMESA BLOCKED BY PROCEDURAL VOTE IN SENATE
NEXT STEPS:
NEXT STEPS AND ACTION REQUEST
REQUEST
Call to Action
Senator Bill Cassidy (LA) | 202-224-5824 |
Senator John Kennedy (LA) | 202-224-4623 |
Senator Roger Wicker (MS) | 202-224-6253 |
Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS) | 202-224-5054 |
Senator Richard Shelby (AL) | 202-224-5744
https://www.shelby.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/emailsenatorshelby |
Senator Doug Jones (AL) | 202-224-4124 |
Please consider joining the ASBPA.