NEW ORLEANS (press release) – Following is a statement from Marc Ehrhardt, executive director of the Grow Louisiana Coalition, regarding a ruling issued today by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the ongoing lawsuits against Louisiana’s oil and natural gas industry:
“Since 2015, Louisiana’s oil and natural gas industry has directly paid $230,115,049 into coastal building and protection projects in South Louisiana. These lawsuits and the small group of trial lawyers pursuing them have not produced one dollar for the coast.
Louisiana’s oil and natural gas activity generates more than 33 percent of Louisiana’s funding for coastal restoration and hurricane protection projects, according to Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. Again, these lawsuits haven’t produced a dollar.
We solve the great challenges facing our state when everyone cooperates to support our economic future and our coast. Lawsuits don’t bring people together. They drive us apart.
In spite of today’s disappointing ruling, we will continue to fight for Louisiana’s working coast and the people who make this vital industry go every day.”
