[Mb-civic] Why Louisiana Matters - Mary L. Landrieu - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Why Louisiana Matters

By Mary L. Landrieu
Saturday, October 1, 2005; Page A17

The Sept. 27 editorial "Louisiana's Looters" displayed a profound 
ignorance of the regional and national miscalculation of this national 
disaster. It's not just that people's homes are underwater; that happens 
with every hurricane. It's not just that roofs have blown off; those are 
the usual visuals of a storm of this nature. It's that an entire region 
vital to our national energy supply, security and commerce has been 
devastated.

South Louisiana is the anchor of America's Energy Coast, securing more 
than three-quarters of U.S. offshore oil and gas production -- a greater 
share of our nation's energy supply than even the kingdom of Saudi 
Arabia accounts for. The ports of south Louisiana, including New 
Orleans, are America's gateway to the world, handling more than 20 
percent of U.S. imports and exports each day, including more than 70 
percent of all grains as they move from farms across the nation to 
markets overseas. And 40 percent of the seafood consumed by Americans 
each year comes through coastal Louisiana.

But The Post dismissed the federal government's role in the rebuilding 
of these and other devastated sectors of our economy. It described an 
effort to rebuild the regional economy as extraneous, comparing it to a 
sports venue miles from Ground Zero in New York. The people of Louisiana 
do not share this simplistic view. Nor would an Iowa farmer unable to 
bring his grain to market, or a Virginia mother who can't keep up with 
rising gas costs for the family car, or a Chicago seafood restaurateur 
trying to expand his business even as supplies are constrained.

It is important to note that we will not rebuild New Orleans out of our 
own sense of need or nostalgia. We will renew and restore New Orleans 
and the region because its existence is dictated by the needs of U.S. 
commerce. The question is not whether Americans can afford to raise up 
Louisiana's economy; it is whether America can afford not to. The answer 
is clear: We must rebuild stronger, better and smarter than before.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093001465.html
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