Proposed amendment would dedicate funds from offshore renewables

Louisiana voters will decide the fate of one constitutional amendment in the Nov. 5 primary. It would dedicate the money the state government receives from alternative energy production offshore to the fund that pays for coastal protection and restoration.
Early voting begins Friday and runs through Oct. 29, except for the two Sunday during that period. St. Mary resident can vote 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. each open day at the Registrar of Voters Offices at the Parish Courthouse in Franklin or at 301 Third St. in Morgan City, or at the West St. Mary Civic Center.
Here’s the official summary for Amendment 1:
“1. Do you support an amendment to require that federal revenues received by the state generated from Outer Continental Shelf alternative or renewable energy production be deposited into the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund? …
“Present Constitution provides for the manner in which the state treasurer makes required annual deposits into the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund from federal revenues received by the state from Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas activity.
“Proposed Constitutional Amendment retains present constitutional language and adds other federal revenue sources received by the state, including, but not limited to: wind energy; solar energy; tidal energy; wave energy; geothermal energy; and other alternative or renewable energy production or sources.”
According to the Public Affairs Research Council, the go-to source for information on state amendments, voters created the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Fund in 1989. Voters in 2006 changed the name to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund.
The fund is the primary source of direct funding for the 50-year, $50 billion coastal master plan approved by the Legislature last year.
Money for the fund comes from dedicated oil and gas money from state and federal sources; settlement and recovery money from the 2010 BP Horizon oil spill; and state surplus money directed by lawmakers.
Along with a diminishing amount of money from the BP settlement, the biggest source of funding is the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, known as GOMESA, which directs federal energy revenue to Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.
The Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund pays for barrier island restoration, diversion projects, and flood risk reduction work such as flood gates, levees and pump stations.
If the amendment fails, nearly all the money due Louisiana from alternative and renewable energy sources will go into the state’s general fund.