Live from the Gulf: A Rallying Cry for Drilling, Jobs
Nicolas Loris /
This week over 11,000 people flocked to the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana to send a simple but important message to Washington: give us our way of life back. Lift the moratorium, stop unnecessarily killing jobs, let us clean up the Gulf and get back to work. Representatives from the oil, seafood and tourism industries as well as local politicians and residents of the Gulf rallied by Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser’s words: “This moratorium will turn Louisiana into a state of bankrupt businesses.”
Louisiana’s state think tank, the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, covered the event and collected sentiments from parish presidents, Governor Bobby Jindal, industry workers and interested citizens, among others. The Jim Funk, president of the Louisiana Restaurant Association clarified any public misperceptions of unsafe seafood coming from the Gulf, knowing very well that one instance of contamination could further devastate the industry. He said, “In all the tests that are being been, there has not been one thing found that is dangerous to your health. I mean zero – absolutely none. There has been no impact… It’s safer than it’s ever been. It’s being tested more than it has ever been before. The only hang up right now is the [Food and Drug Administration].”