Special Edition: New Orleans Needs Jobs, Not Lawsuits

Op-Ed by Marc Ehrhardt
GrowLouisianaCoalition.com
Edited By: Leonard Lenny Vasbinder
April 5, 2019

On March 29, the City of New Orleans announced it's filing a lawsuit against oil and natural gas companies over the coastal land loss. Now, more than ever, we need to unite as a community and tell Mayor Cantrell that we want jobs, not lawsuits!

The following is a statement from Marc Ehrhardt, executive director of Grow Louisiana Coalition regarding New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell's decision to sue New Orleans' energy industry:

“Nothing good comes from suing an industry that means so much to New Orleans. Right now, there are more than 1,600 New Orleanians and a couple hundred New Orleans-based businesses working in the energy industry here. These businesses employ citizens from every corner of the city.

The message being sent to thousands of New Orleanians who have made their lives and raised their families in the City of New Orleans is that their work, their years of paying taxes, rebuilding their homes and neighborhoods, and their value to the community means nothing. The city would rather sue them.

Lawsuits do not build relationships. They end them. If this issue was about truly working together on coastal management and building, then the city would recognize that New Orleans’ energy industry is already a dedicated partner in addressing Louisiana’s coast. The industry is also one of the largest partners in dozens of the city’s most recognized community efforts, including groundbreaking partnerships like NORDC, GNO Inc., and ongoing programs with local schools, nonprofit and environmental organizations here.

While the oil and natural gas industry go to work on these programs, lawsuits filed in 2013 were thrown out of federal court four times, including the final decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Other lawsuits still languish in the court system without any significant movement more than five years after they were first filed. The people and businesses of New Orleans need jobs for everyone, not lawsuits.”

Worried about the future of New Orleans' energy industry? Share this newsletter with your friends and family. https://growlouisianacoalition.com/new-orleans-needs-jobs-not-lawsuits/