Sen. Cassidy: Federal money will aid coast, hurricane protection

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy spoke with Houma-Thibodaux oil-industry officials last week about coastal restoration, hurricane recovery and other issues affecting the community and Louisiana.

Cassidy, R-La., spoke to the South Central Industrial Association during a luncheon at the Cypress Columns meeting hall in Gray.

Cassidy highlighted money headed to Louisiana from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, approved by Congress late last year. The $1.2 trillion package that funds improvements to roads, bridges, water and levee systems, high-speed internet access, airports, ports and more.

Louisiana is guaranteed more than $7 billion from the bipartisan bill and will be eligible for billions more in allocations.

Cassidy, a lead sponsor of the bill, said he's been criticized for working with Democrats to pass the measure but added that legislation is about compromise.

"Sometimes people get mad at me for working with a Democrat, but guess who has all the power in Washington? It is the Democrats who control the House, Democrats who control the Senate, and last time I looked, Biden is a Democrat," Cassidy said. "So if you want to get something for your community, you've got to work with other people."

Hurricane and flood recovery

Cassidy recalled that President Joe Biden called him to try and work out a disagreement after the infrastructure bill hit a roadblock.

Cassidy said the measure includes $3.5 billion for coastal resiliency for areas impacted by natural disasters in the past six years.

Another $3.5 billion will help areas flooded in the past 10 years. Cassidy said that applies to other states as well, but Louisiana has filed roughly 50% of National Flood Insurance claims over the past 10 years.

Growing the economy

"This bill is not about catching us up to 2022; this bill is about creating an economy for 2050 so that this region doesn't necessarily go up and down with the oil-and-gas industry," Cassidy said. The goal is to diversify so oil and gas continues to plays a part but Terrebonne and Lafourche aren't at the whims of fluctuating global oil prices.

The bill allocates $8 billion in competitive grants to create a series of "hydrogen hubs" across the U.S. that would produce hydrogen for use as fuel. The process, Cassidy said, takes natural gas already being produced and separates the carbon from the hydrogen so the two can be used separately.

Louisiana, a leading natural gas producer, has applied for a grant to produce a hydrogen hub in the state.

Bracing for storms

Cassidy said he and others in Congress are working to add a disaster-aid package to a larger bill to pay for government operations this fall.

As it stands, FEMA trailers are often sent into areas recovering from hurricanes only to be damaged or destroyed when the next storm hits. Cassidy said he and others are considering ways FEMA or HUD could instead help residents strengthen their homes so they can withstand a Category 4 hurricane.

Harnessing the wind

Cassidy is among a bipartisan group of senators who introduced a measure that seeks to ensure states get half the revenue generated by wind farms that produce electricity off their coasts.

The Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems Act, or RISEE, would also give Louisiana and other states a greater share of oil and gas revenue from drilling in federal waters off their coasts.

Among provisions, the bill, which has won committee approval and now heads to the full Senate, would amend the current Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act to:

Eliminate the state revenue-sharing cap, now at $375 million.

Increase the amount shared with states from 37.5% to 50%.