$30 million allocated for Coastal Alabama projects
Governor Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Chris Blankenship announced approximately $30 million for 25 projects in Coastal Alabama. The projects will be funded by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (GoMESA). According to the Department of Interior website, “The Office of Natural Resources Revenue disburses GOMESA revenue to state and local governments for each of the four GOMESA states. The numbers below show the disbursements to the states and their local governments. Disbursements are made the year following the year of receipt and are subject to sequestration.” Alabama Recipient Fiscal Year 2024 Disbursement 2009-2023 Disbursements State of Alabama $39,864,143 $190,647,881.07 Baldwin County $4,671,961 $21,960,919.79 Mobile County $5,294,074 $25,701,097.66 Alabama Total $49,830,178 $238,309,898.52 These projects focus on environmental education and outreach, sewer and stormwater infrastructure, water quality improvements, recreational access improvements, and other important projects that are included in the original intent and authorized use of GoMESA funds. “I am thrilled to be joined today by many of our local leaders to announce 25 GoMESA-funded projects,” said Governor Ivey at the press event. “Working closely with Commissioner Blankenship and his team at the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, we have secured more than $30 million dollars to fund the projects that improve and beautify this region we all love. With this announcement, more than $210 million dollars in GoMESA projects have been awarded during the Ivey Administration.” “One of the main themes for this year’s projects is Environmental and Nature Education and Outreach. Teaching future generations about the importance of protecting Alabama the Beautiful and all her natural habitats, wildlife and fish is critical. Several of these projects will make improvements at museums, education facilities, aquariums and along the waterfront – all to educate Alabamians and our visitors from far and wide,” added Governor Ivey. According to the Governor’s office, “GoMESA provides funding for the four Gulf Producing States and their eligible coastal political subdivisions (CPS) to share 37.5 percent of the qualified revenues from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas leases issued since December 20, 2006. With approval from the Governor’s Office, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources administers the funds. Mobile and Baldwin Counties receive separate GoMESA disbursements directly from the Federal government.” “The GoMESA projects announced today will go a long way to continuing to improve the environment and quality of life in Coastal Alabama. I appreciate the work of the staff at the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and our project partners as they work to leverage GoMESA funded projects with the good work happening with Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill projects and other funding sources,” said Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Chris Blankenship. “The nature-based education, water quality improvements, and public access expansion projects announced today will have a long term positive impact.” 2024 State of Alabama Funded GoMESA Projects City of Creola Park, Conservation and Education Project $1,000,000 Exploreum Traveling Exhibit Gallery Refurbishment $829,012 Dauphin Island Programmatic Dredge Permit $300,000 Loxley Municipal Park Wetlands Acquisition Project $650,000 Fairhope Flying Creek Nature Preserve Phase II $1,328,400 Summerdale Miracle League Ballfields $1,538,000 Dauphin Island Middle Beach Access Improvements $1,500,000 Orange Beach Schools Sea, Sand, and Stars Education Project $979,864 Meaher State Park Headquarters Camp Store Project $1,100,000 Mobile County Cedar Point Boat Ramp Phase II $2,753,440 Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s Manatee Sighting Network $182,461 Town of Perdido Beach Comprehensive Drainage Improvements $307,670 National Maritime Museum Improvements (Mobile) $2,250,000 Saraland Water and Sewer System Upgrades $1,523,700 Blakeley Park Waterfront Access Improvement Project $1,970,500 Mobile Riverfront Park Enhancements – Phase II $3,023,667 Dauphin Island Sewer Collection System Improvements 2024 $2,965,981 Daphne Sewer Lift Station Permanent Bypass Pumps – Priority 1 $499,500 Daphne Sewer Lift Station Permanent Bypass Pumps – Priority 2 $445,500 Mobile County/TNC Coden Bayou Land Acquisition Project $753,575 City of Prichard Sweeney Lane Bridge $650,000 Honor Park – A City of Spanish Fort Project $3,000,000 Alabama Aquarium Improvements (DISL) $200,000 USA Lower Alabama Beach Education Facility $250,000 GoMESA Administration $398,641 $30,399,911
Feds offering 80% less in oil and natural gas lease sales, increasing royalty rate
The U.S. Department of Interior announced it is making only 20% of eligible acreage for oil and natural gas production available for leasing on federal lands to comply with a federal court order. In his first week in office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters to be halted by the Interior Department. The agency was also tasked to review existing permits for fossil fuel development. The administration was sued, and last June, a federal judge in Louisiana struck down the executive order. Issuing lease sales, the agency said, was “in compliance with an injunction from the Western District of Louisiana.” The sales would focus on the “highest and best use of America’s public lands, reflecting an 80 percent reduction from nominated acreage” and “reflects the balanced approach to energy development and management of our nation’s public lands,” the agency said in a news release. On Friday, the Bureau of Land Management posted notices for significantly reformed onshore lease sales that address “deficiencies in the federal oil and gas leasing program.” “While we’re glad to see BLM is finally going to announce a sale, the extreme reduction of acreage by 80%, after a year and a quarter without a single sale, is unwarranted and does nothing to show that the administration takes high energy prices seriously,” Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma said. The group, which represents 200 member companies engaged in oil and natural gas exploration and production in the West, sued the Biden administration last year for violating federal law by halting lease sales. On Monday, the BLM issued final environmental assessments and sale notices for the upcoming oil and gas lease sales. It also increased the royalty rate to 18.75% to “ensure fair return for the American taxpayer and on par with rates charged by states and private landowners.” House Committee on Natural Resources Chair, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., said increasing the royalty rate was a good move. “If we’re going to let the fossil fuel industry pocket more of our public lands for drilling, we should at least make sure they’re paying a decent price to do it,” he said in a statement. But there’s nothing fair about this for the taxpayer, others argue. The policy will only further depress American production, keep gasoline prices high, and hurt independent oil and gas producers and small businesses like those represented by Western Energy Alliance. Small mom and pop companies in the West have been hit hard by the Biden administration’s energy policies, and taxing them after halting lease sales for over a year only adds insult to injury, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said. The agency’s argument is also flawed because producing on federal lands already costs more than producing on nonfederal lands, critics of the policy argue. “Raising the royalty rate 50 percent increases the costs of production on federal lands, which already carry a higher cost than nonfederal lands,” Sgamma said. “This increased tax will have the effect of any other tax increase – you get less of what’s taxed, in this case, federal oil and natural gas. At a time when the administration should be increasing production, it continues to introduce new policies that further depress American production and keep gasoline prices high.” Power The Future Communications Director Larry Behrens said the announcement was a political ploy to “escape blame for soaring gas prices. When these policy peanuts offered by Washington don’t turn around massive gas prices or 40-year high inflation, the President will again try to blame energy workers for not producing enough. You don’t reclaim American energy independence by giving only 20 percent and America’s struggling families will continue to pay the price for Biden’s latest political stunt.” The eligible acreage assessed by the BLM was in Alabama, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming, according to the Department of Interior’s announcement. It analyzed 646 parcels on roughly 733,000 acres previously nominated for leasing by energy companies. The final sale notices only offer approximately 173 parcels on roughly 144,000 acres, an 80 percent reduction from the acreage originally nominated. Those being offered were already fully analyzed by the BLM at the end of the Trump administration. Numerous environmental groups have criticized the decision, also pointing out that Biden pledged to halt oil and gas production on federal lands. “Candidate Biden promised to end new oil and gas leasing on public lands, but President Biden is prioritizing oil executive profits over future generations,” Nicole Ghio, with Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. At a town hall in New Hampshire in 2020, Biden famously said, “no more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period.” The White House has said it intends to fight the litigation in court and remains “committed to addressing the climate crisis.” Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
