To Engage or Not to Engage
Should Congress direct 80 percent of the upcoming Clean Water Act civil fine from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill to coastal ecosystem restoration and rebuilding local economies in the coastal regions of the affected States (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida)? If you live and work in those areas, the answer is yes.
Our discovery of the impending landmark environmental legislation focusing on this issue occurred during a simple breakfast meeting with representatives from the offices of Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-Miss.). The RESTORE Act, which has passed the House and Senate and is included as an amendment to the Surface Transportation Bill currently in conference, would send 80 percent of BP fine dollars to the five affected states instead of going directly to the U.S. Treasury as dictated by the Clean Water Act. The penalty BP and its partners Halliburton and Transocean will pay under the Clean Water Act is based on the number of barrels of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico and the degree of negligence, which puts the minimum cost at $5 billion and could escalate to $17 billion.
There is no question this legislation is significant to our area, now and in the long term. A $4 million grant from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) has connected the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The RPA grant came from an anonymous donor and helped create the Fund for Gulf Communities designated to provide much-needed funding to Coastal Mississippi nonprofit organizations that are providing assistance to individuals and families affected by the oil spill. Through the grantmaking process, we discovered an unmet need of more than $11 million from area nonprofits working with our distressed populations and communities resulting from the oil spill.
The funds from RESTORE would not only restore our fragile ecosystem and rebuild our local economies—they could provide much-needed assistance to our over-burdened nonprofits that are dealing with lingering effects from Katrina, the down economy, and the devastating impact of the worst manmade disaster in U.S. history with evaporating donations and contributions to sustain their efforts. It begs the question: Do you think it is time for your organization to engage in public policy and can you afford not to engage?
Rich Westfall is president of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
