Louisiana Republican candidates for Governor Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, Public Service Commissioner Scott Anglee and U.S. Senator David Vitter along with Democratic Representative John Bel Edwards spoke at a breakfast forum sponsored by the Louisiana Oil and Gas Assoc. in Lake Charles, Louisiana as reported by the Associated Press in the Times Picayune of 3/14.
All three Republicans committed to (1) work with the industry concerning changes to regulatory and civil law changes pushed by the industry. (2) Dardenne and Vitter oppose the local lawsuits filed against the companies for coastal wetlands damage. Angelle was reported to say the blame game will not fix the coast. (No the oil companies should. This writers thoughts) (3) All three said changes were needed to the "legacy lawsuits" pushed by the industry that were passed last year.
Democrat John Bell Edwards refused to embrace several of the lawsuit limitations and changes sought by the industry in (1) above, saying reasonable people can disagree on where to strike a balance. On (2) above Edwards said the courts should decide whether the lawsuits have merit and did not believe the legislature was the proper place to tell local governments that they can't pursue action. Edwards voted against those changes in (3) above saying he could not reach a compromise he could support.
All four candidates support the state's 50 year $50 billion coastal restoration plan. Vitter told the industry the "litigation climate" is the biggest problem we have for our business environment and says more changes are needed to the state's civil court system. (The usual republican rhetoric)
All three republicans told the industry group they or a family member worked in the industry or business related to the industry at one time or another. Their comments represent the same republican positions, weaker laws and regulations and no accountability. They said everything the industry wanted to hear and Vitter even went over the top with his civil law changes.
Democrat John Bel Edwards more than held his own with reasonable answers and did not attend the forum to tell the industry what they wanted to hear. He seems to understand the industry is doing very well in Louisiana under the existing laws. This writer can see that Mr. Edwards will campaign on the issues facing the state with sound policy ideas and that the republicans will continue to talk about easing business regulations and civil laws and try to tie that to job creation and a better economy. Present governor Bobby Jindal has tried that and it failed. And of course they are on record as opposing the lawsuits against the industry. Yet they have no proposal to deal with the environmental damage they inflicted. Mr. Edwards does, let the courts decide.
The coming election for governor will give the people a clear choice this writer believes and "PolitiDose" will be there with political commentary.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
