U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), David Vitter (R-La.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), this week sent a letter to President Obama opposing his proposal to deprive Gulf Coast states of a fair share of the revenue from energy produced off their shores as promised under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) of 2006.

“It’s extremely important that we have a level of revenue sharing that fairly compensates coastal states that host energy production off their shores. The administration’s attempt to deprive coastal states of that revenue is way off base,” said Sen. Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “Revenue sharing is vital to states that depend on this activity to provide the services and infrastructure that supports activities in adjacent federal waters. I’m confident that with the help of my colleagues we can stop the administration from robbing these states of revenue they deserve.”

“The federal government has taken more than $22 billion from oil and gas produced off our coasts in the past 3 years – in return we have received $4 million to share, Sen. Cassidy said. “This money needs to not only to be protected – but Louisiana and other Gulf State’s share needs to be increased.”

“The President’s budget plan to redistribute offshore energy revenue is flat-out insulting to Louisianians. If anything, President Obama should want Louisiana to keep more of this revenue – it’s going to vital coastal restoration,” Sen. Vitter said. “Our coasts are the first line of defense to a hurricane or tropical storm, and it’s absolutely critical that we do everything in our power to protect and restore them.”

“I will continue to oppose any attempt by the administration to raid Mississippi’s energy revenues to help fund President Obama’s big-government agenda,” Sen. Wicker said. “This ill-conceived proposal could cost the state millions of dollars, to which Mississippi is entitled under the law. Working together with my colleagues from the Gulf Coast, I am optimistic that we will succeed in stopping this plan.”

Coastal states that help produce the energy our nation needs to prosper deserve a fair share of the revenues, especially since they bear the cost of providing the services and maintaining the infrastructure that supports offshore production, and because they also bear the risk if there is an accident.

“States that support offshore energy development for the rest of the country supply, provide the support for, and pay for the infrastructure needed to bring this energy to market,” the senators wrote in the letter. “We not only oppose and reject your budget proposal eroding the revenue sharing provisions in GOMESA, but will actively pursue efforts to minimize the disparity by bringing equal treatment in revenue sharing among energy producing states.” 

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