Feature
March
31
Area Women Storm Washington
by Simone Theriot Maloz
Six local women travel once again with the Women of the Storm to Washington, DC. These women will call on multiple members of congress to request that 80 percent of future fines and penalties resulting from last summer’s BP oil spill be dedicated to the Gulf Coast states to aid in Gulf Coast recovery and restoration.
Jennifer Armand, Bayou Industrial Group Executive Director; Jane Arnette, SCIA Executive Director; Lori Davis, Owner, RIGCHEM; Carol LeBlanc, member of the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana; Simone Maloz, Restore or Retreat Executive Director and Arlanda Williams, Terrebonne Parish Councilwoman will represent the Bayou Region on March 29 at 11 a.m. on the Upper Senate side lawn.
This non-partisan grassroots organization was formed after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Following the environmental and economic storms caused by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the group expanded to include women from all five Gulf Coast states.
This group of more than 150 women of different backgrounds and political persuasions, hailing from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, will speak with one voice this Thursday, backed up by over 131,000 signatures by citizens in every state who signed the group’s e-petition at www.RestoretheGulf.com. During their visit to Washington, the women will stand under bright blue umbrellas representing the blue tarps that covered thousands of damaged roofs along the Gulf.
“These women are going to Washington in a spirit of bipartisanship because they know that it is both fair and reasonable for BP to pick up the tab for Gulf Coast restoration, rather than forward the bill to tax-payers in the future,” said Anne Milling, who founded the organization in early 2006. “It’s not a partisan issue. It’s a leadership issue!”
Milling explained, “If Congress doesn’t pass legislation to dedicate the fines into a Gulf Coast recovery fund, billions of dollars from the pockets of BP will be washed away into the general fund. At this time, there is no requirement for the BP dollars to be used to restore this region’s ability to provide the nation with sustainable food supplies, energy production and other natural resources.”
Under the Clean Water Act, BP and the other parties liable for the Deepwater Horizon disaster may pay fines totaling a minimum of $5 billion —or up to $21 billion if they are found to have been grossly negligent. Until a cap of $2.7 billion is reached, fines are required by law to go into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to clean up the next disaster. The Women of the Storm are speaking up about the billions of dollars expected to exceed that $2.7 billion cap.
The group’s position reflects that of the bipartisan federal Oil Spill Commission, headed by Sen. Bob Graham and Bill Reilly, as well as the Mabus Commission and public polling in the five Gulf Coast states. The Obama Administration has also suggested that a significant portion of the fines go to a Gulf Coast recovery fund.
“It is often said that a rising tide lifts all boats,” Milling said. “If Congress takes the common sense step of dedicating BP fines to the Gulf Coast region, all Americans will benefit for generations to come from a healthy coast that supports domestic energy, shipping, seafood, ecology, recreation and culture.”
“We are honored to travel once again to our nation’s capital with such a dynamic and successful group,” said Simone Maloz, Executive Director of Restore or Retreat. “We are real people living on Louisiana’s working coast, dedicated to restoring and reinvigorating our irreplaceable region, and we want to share that powerful message with the decision-makers in Washington.”
