Recently, I had the opportunity to join leaders from national sportfishing and conservation associations to go deep sea fishing in the Gulf. The fish were definitely biting and we caught some mangrove snapper and cobia. Even better though – my family and I grilled some of the mangrove snapper over the weekend.

While we still face challenges from the oil spill, it’s good news that much of our water is now reopened to recreational fishing and now our commercial fishing is beginning to come back.   It was a great trip out in the Gulf and I encourage everyone to travel to the coast to get back out on the water and catch some of our amazing fish.

As fishing resumes it is absolutely critical that we put in place a long-term recovery plan for our seafood industry which ensures not only that Louisiana seafood is safe, but also protects our world-class brand.  That’s why I met with commercial fisherman at Cypress Cove Marina in Venice on Monday, where we called on BP to fund our state’s long-term seafood safety plan.

Our plan calls not only for long-term seafood testing, but also for a marketing campaign aimed at restoring consumer confidence in our seafood products. We submitted the plan to BP on May 29th, but as the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported “the state has not heard back on a decision from BP to fund the program.”  This long-term seafood safety plan is part of our aggressive four-part Agenda to Revitalize Louisiana which outlines our way forward through this oil spill crisis.

This week I also traveled to North Louisiana where I was honored to help cut the ribbon on Delta Community College’s new campus in Monroe. As one of my first acts in office, I was proud to support the State Bond Commission’s approval of $45 million in revenue bonds to help fund the construction of the new campus.

The ribbon-cutting was about far more than just bricks and mortar. For just under a decade, Delta Community College has played a critical role in training students so they can enter rewarding and high-paying careers. Indeed, the school is a vital part of our workforce development reforms to ensure all of our sons and daughters can pursue their dreams right here at home. As I told the Monroe News-Star, Delta Community College and all of our community and technical schools are a critical component of growing Louisiana and the ribbon-cutting is about inaugurating another step in building a better Northeast Louisiana and a better Louisiana.

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal

This week we reached the 100 day mark since the start of the oil spill crisis. As we’ve always said, this disaster is a marathon for Louisiana and it doesn’t end for us when they cap the leak. Indeed, the Coast Guard’s own estimates say there are still tens of millions of gallons of oil in the water that threaten Louisiana’s fragile coastline. The crisis isn’t over for us until our coasts and wetlands are fully restored so we can get back to our way of life.

That’s why we’ve put together a four-part Agenda for Revitalizing Louisiana that sets a pathway forward for restoring Louisiana’s coast through four priority initiatives: implementing a coastal restoration plan, certifying Louisiana’s seafood and getting fishermen back on the water, lifting the moratorium so Louisiana can refuel America and holding BP accountable until Louisiana’s wildlife, air and marshes are completely restored.

Yesterday, I joined coastal parish leaders to meet with officials from the Coast Guard and BP to discuss the next steps for response efforts. The meeting was productive and we think it’s critical for these types of discussions to continue so that our local leaders have a seat at the table when it comes to making decisions about shifting resources. We also agreed that instead of reviewing and rejecting a plan from the Coast Guard and BP, it would be better for coastal parishes to develop their own plans. As I told Fox 8, rather than just responding to and rejecting a plan that comes to us from BP and the Coast Guard, they should allow each parish to come up with their own detailed plan parish by parish in the same way we came up with the original plans to defend our parishes.

Indeed, it’s the same type of approach we took at the beginning of this crisis when we worked with coastal leaders to develop plans in the absence of detailed plans from the Coast Guard and BP. The reality is that our coastal leaders know their land and water like the backs of their hands and it doesn’t make sense for us to accept or reject a one-size-fits-all approach on how resources will be shifted. We’re working with coastal leaders to develop the plans and we will submit them to the Coast Guard and BP next week.

Good news came earlier this week when Louisiana was named as a finalist for competitive grant program, “Race to the Top.” As the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported, I said this announcement is further evidence that Louisiana is on track in our efforts to implement aggressive reform strategies to improve our schools. We passed new laws in the recent legislative session that strengthened our position for the competitive grant. Most importantly though, we passed new laws to move our education system forward by increasing accountability, improving teacher evaluations and helping our schools cut through red tape that impedes academic growth.

Finally, as the Baton Rouge Business Report noted, Louisiana FastStart has been rated as the best state workforce training program in the country by Business Facilities magazine. According to the magazine, “Louisiana has established the gold standard for workforce training solutions with its innovative FastStart program.” We launched FastStart in 2008 as part of our workforce development reforms to attract more business expansion and investment, and ultimately, create more jobs for our people so they can pursue their dreams right here at home. This is a sign of the incredible progress we have made, but we are not stopping here. We will continue to build on this momentum as we tell the world about the opportunities for growth in Louisiana so we can create even more good jobs for Louisianians.

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal

Yesterday I stood with thousands of Louisianians at the Rally for Economic Survival to send a clear message to Washington, D.C. on the drilling moratorium: our people don’t want a BP check or an unemployment check, our people want an end to this arbitrary moratorium so they can get back to work.

At the rally, I saw hard working men and women whose Louisiana Way of Life is threatened by an ill-conceived suspension of deepwater drilling. I saw Lori Davis whose family-run company has already abandoned expansion plans and may be forced to relocate jobs overseas in order to survive.  I saw Cory Kief whose shallow water drilling company is unable to plan for the future because of the mass confusion created by the federal government’s drilling regulators.  And I saw Dwayne Rebstock whose new Multi Service Dock Facility has lost business because of the moratorium and is already being forced to downsize. These are just a few stories, but they represent the tens of thousands of Louisianians whose livelihoods are stake.

Perhaps it was truck driver Allen Comeaux who summed up the vast scope of this administrations moratorium when he told the Associated Press that “it’s not just the people out on the rigs, it’s the people driving trucks, delivering services, selling food” that are impacted by the moratorium. That’s exactly right.  The impact of this moratorium is far and wide. It will be a great blow to many, but it will hurt us all.

It is absolutely vital that our message be received in Washington, D.C. so the rig managers, drillers, roughnecks, and roustabouts that fuel our nation can get back to work to sustain our people, our families, our schools, our communities and our Louisiana Way of Life.  As I said Wednesday, we want the folks in Washington, D.C. to hear us loud and clear - our people want to get back to work and they should not have to fight a second disaster created by the federal government while we’re still fighting the first disaster of the BP oil spill.

The reality is that the moratorium doesn’t reduce America’s energy needs, but instead sends more American jobs and American dollars overseas.  As I said yesterday, somebody is going to have to explain to me how exporting jobs and importing foreign oil is good for America’s economy - good for our security - good for the state of Louisiana; because I’m here to tell you that’s it not.  This moratorium is bad for our security and it’s bad for our economy.

It is my privilege and honor to get up every day and serve as governor of the greatest state in the greatest country in the history of the world.  I’ve never been more proud of the people of Louisiana who took in strangers during Gustav and Ike; and never more proud of Louisiana’s fisherman, coastal workers, and coastal residents who have banded together to win the war against the oil spill.  As I told the thousands of folks gathered at the Cajun Dome yesterday, we are going to get back on that water, we’re going to go fishing again, we’re going to make energy for the rest of this country, and we’re going to feed and fuel this country.  We’ve been doing it for generations and we will do it for generations to come.  It’s important for America that we get back to work and we will fight anyone in Washington who stands in our way.

Finally, we recently announced that Globalstar – a high-tech company – is relocating its corporate headquarters from Silicon Valley in California to Louisiana. Globalstar is committed to relocating or creating more than 150 new jobs by the end of 2011, increasing to more than 200 new jobs by 2013 – and they have also agreed to increase their total Louisiana employment by more than 500 at the end of 2019. Our economic development officials estimate that these new direct jobs will result in the creation of roughly 800 jobs – for a total of 1,300 new direct and indirect jobs in Louisiana. As I told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, this economic development win shows confidence in our state, our culture, our people, and our future.

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal

It has now been more than 12 weeks since the oil began gushing from the sea and flowing towards our fragile coastal wetlands.  During my time on the coast during this disaster the questions I am asked are often the same: Will Louisiana ever be the same?  Will our communities and our families triumph over this catastrophe?  Will we still be Sportsmen’s Paradise?  The answer is simply - Yes.

There is not a doubt in my mind that the resilience of our people will allow us to recover and restore our coast and wetlands to be more plentiful than ever before.  I am convinced of this because I know Louisiana.  Together we rebuilt after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and again after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. In the face of adversity our people have always risen to the challenge and we will do so again.

Our work is far from over and as I told WAFB, it doesn’t end when BP caps the leak.  It doesn’t end when the oil is gone from the surface.  We won’t stop fighting for our coast until every drop of oil is removed and our way of life is restored to the way it was before this spill. Let there be no doubt - we will be restored and we will be revitalized.

I recently outlined an Agenda for Revitalizing Louisiana, which as the New Orleans Times-Picayune wrote, calls for the “implementation of a compressive coastal restoration plan, a certification process to reopen waters for commercial and recreations fishing, an end to the deepwater drilling moratorium and accountability on the part of BP in paying the full restoration of Louisiana’s affected ecosystem.”

The Heritage Foundation noted that our “wide-ranging” and “ambitious” plan comes at a “critical time,” and sends a clear message that “Louisiana isn’t going to rest until the coast is fully restored and its citizens are back to work.”  They’re absolutely right.  Each of these measures is crucial to winning the war against the oil that threatens our way of life in Louisiana and our bountiful natural resources.

It seems like just a few months ago when Louisianians rejoiced at the New Orleans Saints‘ victory. We were all inspired by the struggles and devotion of Who Dat Nation as the Saints emerged victorious from the Super Bowl. Just as the Saints bounced back with a comprehensive recipe for success, so too will our state recover from this oil spill by achieving many of the goals outlined in our Agenda for Revitalizing Louisiana. Our success is riding on a team effort from everyone involved in our recovery from the spill and every Louisianian’s unwavering dedication to maintaining our unique and wonderful Louisiana Way of Life.

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal

Recently I flew over Lake Pontchartrain which is now threatened by tar balls and oil after decades of work to restore the lake to healthy levels.  For weeks we requested 20 miles of boom to create multiple layers of defense for the Lake along with shallow water skimmers. The recent oil impact on Lake Pontchartrain now brings the total amount of shoreline impacted by oil in Louisiana to over 337 miles.

Even with this mounting crisis and rising miles of shoreline impacted by oil, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected a coastal protection measure for Barataria Bay just this past Saturday. This rejection came after a month of meetings, phone calls and compromises to try and win federal approval. We even joined locals to meet with the President on this rock plan around a month ago. We were told that we would get a response in a matter of days. Instead, several weeks later, we got a flat rejection. As I told the Baton Rouge Advocate, only a bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. would say rocks are more harmful to our water than oil. These people need to come to Louisiana. They need to touch the oil, feel the oil, and smell the oil that threatens our way of life here.

Most frustrating of all is that when the federal government denies one of our plans they also fail to offer an alternative.  We need the federal government to show a greater sense of urgency and fight this oil like the war that it is. As I also told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, simply saying no is not an answer, no is not a plan, and no is not acceptable.

We need the federal government to recognize that when they reject our defense measures they fundamentally choose for oil to come in our wetlands. That will never be the choice we make. We cannot allow bureaucratic roadblocks to prevent good plans from being implemented.

This week we also took Senator Mary Landrieu and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus – who the President charged with developing a long-term recovery plan for the Gulf Coast – on a flyover of our coast to show the oil impact here as well as the significant coastal erosion problems we have experienced for generations. This year we were on track to have the lowest rate of land loss in 80 years. Now, that progress is threatened by oil impacting our coast and wetlands. We had a very clear message for Secretary Mabus. The time for coastal restoration studies is over. Our fragile coastline cannot afford years of more studies. We need quick action to restore our coast.

Finally, I am constantly amazed by the perseverance of our people in responding to this disaster. They are on the front lines every day – turning fishing boats into defense ships, dragging boom to stop oil – and always coming up with more ideas to protect our land and waters. It is the same spirit of perseverance that strengthened us through Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike; and this same perseverance leaves no doubt in my mind that we will win this war against the oil spill and come back better than ever before. To the people of coastal Louisiana, we will stand with you and work alongside you until every drop of oil is off of our coast and out of our waters and all of our fisheries and our industries are 100 percent restored. Our prayers continue to be with those on the coast and every Louisianian who is impacted by this spill.

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal

Dear Friends -

Earlier this week, I was about three miles off the coast of Grand Isle and saw firsthand a reportedly 12-mile oil slick aiming towards our fragile wetlands. We certainly saw lots of oil, but as Fox News reported we didn’t see one boat or skimmer on the water trying to capture or contain the massive slick that has now started to hit our shores.  Meanwhile, that same day we stood with coastal leaders who have been waiting for weeks for federal officials to approve the use of rocks to help narrow passes and block oil from coming into our wetlands around Grand Isle. We called on the feds to immediately approve the project so work can begin to stop more heavy oil from hitting Louisiana’s coast.

No skimmers and approval for a containment project stuck in red tape are just the latest examples of a lack of urgency from the federal government. This is a battle to defend our Louisiana way of life and we need the federal government to get in this war to win it. Vice President Biden was in town yesterday, and as I told FOX 8 in New Orleans, I shared three main concerns with him. First, the feds need to cut through the red tape so projects and resources can be quickly approved to fight the oil off our coast before it enters our fragile wetlands. Second, we need more boom and more skimmers to prevent the oil from entering our delicate wetlands.  Third, the consequences of the drilling moratorium are real and devastating.

First, it was our dredging project which took the federal government weeks to approve. Then, after we finally started building the sand-berms, they shut it down and left our coast vulnerable to oil. As I mentioned earlier, local officials are awaiting a response from the feds to place rocks in western Barataria Bay passes. Our coastal leaders have a plan to narrow the passes by up to 70 percent with rocks, rigid pipe boom or other measures, and then place barges with vacuum trucks and sorbent operations in the remaining gaps. It’s been weeks now since local officials requested approval and the Grand Isle Mayor and I spoke to the President about this project three weeks ago. The President told us we would get a call within hours. I told the Vice President about this project yesterday, but it’s ridiculous that we’re still fighting red tape when oil continues to rush towards our coast. As the Thibodaux Daily Comet reported, the feds seem to think rocks in the water would cause more damage than the oil that is coming our way.  That defies logic and common sense.

I also spoke to the Vice President this week about the need to deploy resources quickly, including skimmers and boom. There are apparently over 170 skimmers on the way and that’s great, but we want to know where they have been for the past 72 days? We’ve been asking for these and other resources for weeks. We also must relax regulatory rules so more skimmers can be brought in from around the country and the world.

We also talked to the Vice President about the impact the drilling moratorium is having on our people. We all want drilling to be done safely, but we’re very concerned about an arbitrary 6-month suspension and also the fact that the commission set up the President to study the moratorium won’t even hold their first meeting until next month. We also continue to get mixed signals about claims process for people impacted by the moratorium. I said yesterday that the process is still as clear as mud because the President says folks should file claims with BP and BP says they are not handling claims. The reality though is that our people don’t want an unemployment check or a claims check, they want to go back to work.

We will continue to push the federal government to join us in the war to protect our coast. We know what’s at stake and we will win this war. It’s time for the feds to lead or get out of the way.

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal