FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE              CONTACT: ROBERT DILLON (202) 224-6977

JULY 22, 2010                                                         MEGAN HERMANN (202) 224-5305

                                              

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, today sent a letter to their colleagues in the U.S. Senate urging them to support revenue sharing for energy production on the outer continental shelf (OCS), ensuring coastal states, including Alaska and the Gulf states, receive a fair share of the revenue from oil and gas production off of their coastlines.

 

“We are united in our position that any production in federal waters must include a program in which affected coastal states and coastal political subdivisions are entitled to a share of the federal revenues resulting from such production,” the senators wrote.  

 

The letter, signed by 24 senators from both coastal and interior states, highlights the strong bipartisan support for revenue sharing. States deserve a fair portion of the federal revenue raised from oil and gas production off their shores because of the risks and impacts associated with offshore energy production, the fiscal challenges faced by coastal states and the continued disparity between onshore and offshore development policies – states with onshore production are entitled to 50 percent of the federal revenues under the Mineral Leasing Act, while coastal states with offshore production receive nothing.  

 

“Just as offshore production, from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico, is necessary to increase our nation’s energy supply and energy security, revenue sharing is necessary to address the very real risks faced by coastal states,” Murkowski said. “A program that returns a fair share of revenues to each coastal state must be part of any effort to improve our nation’s offshore energy policies.  Revenue sharing simply must be a top priority in oil spill and energy legislation. If not, then the bill is exceedingly unlikely to gain my vote or the necessary support to pass.” 

 

A PDF of the letter is attached.

 

###