NEW ORLEANS -- About 50 opponents of continued oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico rallied Monday afternoon and then took their protest into a public meeting about potential effects of continuing the lease program for five more years.
For a few minutes, they stood in a circle in a meeting room in a hotel near New Orleans' international airport, where the federal agency in charge of oil and gas leases had set up stations for its officials to talk with people. After a couple of short speeches, they chanted, "The Gulf is not for sale!" and clapped.
Then they fell into quiet conversations with federal officials.
Jayeesha Dutta of the Gulf Future Coalition talked with Bruce Brown, chief environmental officer for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Dutta said the administration should listen to opponents of Gulf drilling, as it has to those who oppose drilling off the Atlantic Coast.
Brown encouraged her to say so in writing, at tables set up to take comments.
Supporters of continued oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico say they're needed to support the economy and the energy needs of the Gulf Coast and the entire nation.
Brent Greenfield of the Consumer Energy Alliance said he represents 400,000 individuals as well as truckers, farmers and others who need reliable and affordable energy. He said the United States will rely on oil and gas for decades to come, and the Gulf provides 20 percent of the nation's crude oil supply.
Lori LeBlanc is head of a group representing Gulf energy workers. She said the federal government has received $80 billion from lease sales and royalties over the past decade and that all taxpayers would lose if that money were to end.
Anne Rolfes of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade said that groups like hers have been asking for safer procedures that don't pollute.
"We've asked them to stop their accidents, to put up air monitors, to stop their spills in the Gulf of Mexico," she said.
She said those efforts have always been resisted and that climate change is bringing "the morality of fossil fuel" into serious question. She said those are among the reasons opponents want an end to new drilling.
Monday's meeting was the first of three scheduled by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to let people comment about the potential environmental effects of five more years of offshore drilling, from 2017 to 2022.
The other scheduled meetings will be in Houston and Washington.
The agency notes that people who cannot get to the meetings can send comments by email, by regular mail, or by hand delivery.
Business on 04/19/2016