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America’s
Energy Coast
Working Toward New Energy and Ecological
Sustainability for the Gulf Coast
By John Hill

With so much attention being paid to U.S. energy policy,

it may come as a surprise that the majority of our nation’s
offshore energy supply is produced in just four states,
known as America’s Energy Coast. Centuries of erosion and
damage to the Gulf Coast now pose a real and immediate
threat to the future of our energy stability. Fortunately, an
alliance of business executives, nongovernmental organi-
zation leaders and elected officials has come forward to
protect and rebuild this delicate and vital region — but they
can’t do it alone.

Cover image courtesy of Bevil Knapp,

America’s Wetland/Louisiana’s Vanishing
Coast, LSU Press, © Bevil Knapp
4085-F-America's Energy Coast_SECT_DM:8 x 10.5 6/19/08 6:08 PM Page 2

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Southeast Louisiana Land Loss

Historical and Projected Land Loss in the Deltaic Plain

Coastal Louisiana has lost an average of 34 square miles of land, primarily

marsh, per year for the last 50 years. From 1932 to 2000, coastal Louisiana lost
1,900 square miles of land, roughly an area the size of the state of Delaware.
Land Loss 1932-2050*
If nothing more is done to stop this land loss, Louisiana could potentially lose
approximately 700 additional square miles of land, or an area about equal to
the size of the greater Washington, D.C. — Baltimore area, in the next 50 years.
Map Source: U.S. Geological Survey

F
*e land loss between 1932 and 2000 is historical. e land loss between 2000 and 2050 is projected based on historical trends if no further action is taken, as documented in “Historical and
Projected Coastal Louisiana Land Changes: 1978-2050” (www.Lacoast.gov/LandLoss /NewHistoricalland.pdf ).

or thousands of years — starting long before the building of
the pyramids and continuing through the Dark Ages and
the Industrial Revolution — Mississippi River floodwaters
annually deposited sediment, slowly building the deltaic land
from southern Missouri through the Gulf Coast.
But following the great Mississippi flood of 1927, the U.S. built
the levee system and jetties that sent sediment into the deep
waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Robbed of annual replenishment,
coastal marshes began eroding into the Gulf at the rate of a
football field every 38 minutes. Since 1932, an area of land
production, 30% of its energy supplies and 30% of its seafood, are
joining together as “America’s Energy Coast” (AEC) and forming
a new accord for sustaining the Gulf region. Launched by the
AWF, the AEC is a unique initiative created to bring divergent
interests together to help educate America, shape public policy
and speak with one voice in Washington.
“e Gulf Coast region has a proud history of providing energy
for our nation,” says Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. “However,
the hurricanes of 2005 showed us all the price we pay for the loss
of our coastal wetlands and marshes.”

No Political Divide on Coastal Issues

equivalent to that of the state of Delaware has disappeared.
Former Louisiana Governor Mike Foster sounded a clarion call
in 2001 and launched the America’s WETLAND Foundation
(AWF) to inform the nation about the plight of the Gulf Coast
region and the loss of national assets.
en, in 2005, the grave lessons of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
drove home the coast’s national importance. Gasoline, grain and
seafood prices spiked.e AWF had so successfully delivered news to
the media that land loss was a prominent part of coverage.
Jindal, a Republican, and U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu of New
Orleans, a Democrat, both support the Gulf Coast initiative,
demonstrating nonpartisan unity.
“Without a healthy, sustainable coast, there can be no energy
production, fisheries, ports and transportation routes to carry the
nation’s commerce or wildlife habitat for thousands of different
species of animals and plants,” Jindal says.

The America’s Energy Coast Accord

Landrieu, who partnered with former U.S. Senator Trent
Lott (R-Miss.), both serving as honorary AEC chairs, says it
Today, the vulnerable states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and became clear years ago that the four energy-producing Gulf
Alabama, which contribute 90% of the nation’s offshore energy Coast states “really had so much in common and had been,
4085-F-America's Energy Coast_SECT_DM:8 x 10.5
J. Wayne Leonard
Chairman and CEO
Entergy Corporation
At Entergy, we continue
to implement a compre-
hensive environmental
strategy that was initially
launched in 2001.
In addition to voluntarily limiting
our greenhouse gas emissions, this
includes coastal restoration, energy
efficiency, environmental commu-
nity improvements and recycling.
We recognize that coastal wet-
lands are vitally important to the
safety, well-being and quality of
life in the Gulf Coast region. The
wetlands provide a natural buffer
against hurricane storm surges
and are integral to the continued
sustainability of Entergy’s service
territory. As a leader in the utility
industry, we strongly believe in
making a difference for our com-
munities and for future generations.
In business and in life, probability
diminishes in importance as the risk
of catastrophic consequences
rises. Entergy has both a moral
and financial obligation to take
action now regarding climate
change. If not, future generations
will face the consequences of our
apathy towards the environment.
www.entergy.com
6/19/08 6:08 PM Page 3
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Mississippi Basin
through the years, so short-changed.
“When Katrina and Rita hit, that
forged the idea for the AEC,” Landrieu
says. “When our infrastructure goes
down, your lights go out. When the
Mississippi River ports shut down, you
feel it everywhere.”
R. King Milling, a New Orleans banker
who chairs the foundation, says energy,
shipping and fisheries are assets common
to the four states. “We are all faced with
the same reality that there are natural and
governmental forces that work against us,”
Milling says. “We need to put all these
resources together and really begin to
speak with a shared voice.”
Solidarity Among Gulf
Coast Citizens
National pollster Jim Kitchens found
regional solidarity in a recent poll of 1,200
residents of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi
and Alabama:
• 86% say the federal government
should protect the coastal areas that
provide energy to the nation;
• 75% think coastal communities that
support the offshore production in-
dustry should receive extra impact aid;
• 84% say America takes for granted the
role the energy-producing states have
in national security.
“It is just a lack of knowledge of how
critical this area is to the nation’s security,”
says Mark Hurley of Houston, president
of Shell Pipeline Co. and AEC Industry
Council chair. “I want the AEC to be a
forum for the challenges of sustaining the
Basin Facts
•Drains 41% of continental U.S.
•Includes 31 states and two
Canadian provinces
•Total area drained in 1.2 million
square miles — 41% of U.S.
coast as a supplier of the nation’s energy
needs. To solve the numerous problems
we face along the Gulf Coast, we have to
find common ground that will be the basis
for solutions.”
The rich Gulf Coast eco-culture is a
national asset. “is is an international
ecological treasure that in itself is worth
saving,” Hurley adds.
Historically Opposing
Interests Help Forge
AEC Accord
Valsin Marmillion, an AEC leader, says
critics doubted opposing interests could
sit in the same room for balanced dialogue.
“But over the past year, energy, environ-
mental, conservation, civic, governmental
and research representatives have taken
their seats at the table, and the first accord
for a new sustainability of the Gulf Coast
is imminent,” Marmillion says.
Collaboration is a necessity, says Melody
Meyer, president of Chevron Energy
Technology in Houston. “This region
impacts all we do as an energy provider.
ere is a need for all interests to have a
seat at the table. at’s how we’ll find and
implement real solutions.”
ConocoPhillips, the largest private
owner of wetlands in the U.S. and one of
the largest landowners in south Louisiana,
has operations in all four states that make
up America’s Energy Coast, explains Jim
Knudsen, president of the company’s
Lower 48 exploration and production
organization.“In today’s changing business,
political and environmental landscapes,
we know it is imperative that we work
together with all interested parties to
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10 of the nation’s top 14 ports by
tonnage are in America’s Energy Coast:
1. Port of South Louisiana
(St. Charles, St. James
and Ascension Parishes)
225.5 million tons
2. Houston, Texas:
222.1 million tons
3. New York/New Jersey:
157.6 million tons
4. Long Beach, California:
84.4 million tons
5. Beaumont, Texas:
79.5 million tons
6. Corpus Christi, Texas:
77.6 million tons
7. Huntington-Tristate:
77.2 million tons
8. Port of New Orleans:
76.9 million tons
make sure this coastal region is protected
and sustained,” he says.
Unified, Natural
Solutions Needed
Problems of energy production, climate
change and the eroding coast must be
examined as a whole, not individually, says
Louisiana State University oceanography
professor Robert Twilley, an AEC leader.
“We need more natural approaches,
environmental engineering solutions that
include harnessing the power of the
Mississippi to replenish the marshes. But
it must not damage navigation.e whole
idea is to take the benefits of one sector
and make sure they accrue to the benefit
of other sectors,” Twilley explains.
Producing energy and protecting the
environment are not mutually exclusive,
says Jerry Patterson, Texas Land Office
commissioner and an AEC steering
committee member. “Considering the
strategic importance of the Gulf Coast to
U.S. energy security and the global impor-
tance of the sensitive Gulf ecosystem, we
must look at this region’s coastal policies
in the long term,” he says.
9. Los Angeles: 66 million tons
10. Mobile, Alabama:
59.8 million tons
11. Lake Charles, Louisiana:
58.4 million tons
12. Port of Baton Rouge:
56.3 million tons
13. Port of Plaquemines,
Louisiana: 55.9 million tons
14. Texas City, Texas:
48.9 million tons
Among ports worldwide, the
Port of South Louisiana ranks
12th and the port of Houston
14th in annual tonnage.
AEC Ports
Source: America Association of Port
Authorities, 2006 statistics
Environmental Concerns
Are a Critical Part of Accord
e ecosystem is threatened, says Bill
Walker, director of the Mississippi Depart-
ment of Marine Resources in Biloxi.“Issues
like habitat restoration and water quality are
directly related to the amount of wetlands
— and those issues are not constrained by
political boundaries. We realize whatever is
good for one state in that consortium is
good for all the states,” he says.
e National Wildlife Federation’s
Susan Kaderka, an AEC member, says
U.S. investment in the coast will pay off.
“The landscape of the Gulf Coast is a
national treasure — an ecological, economic
and cultural treasure that is slipping away.
As a country we need to understand that
restoring this landscape is not just a big
expense; it’s an important investment that
will yield returns for generations to come,”
Kaderka says.
Shipping Is a Major Concern
Port of New Orleans Director Gary
LaGrange notes that 10 of the nation’s
top 14 ports are along the Gulf Coast.e
Mississippi River is the trunk of a
4085-F-America's Energy Coast_SECT_DM:8 x 10.5
Bob Ridge
Vice President of Health,
Safety and Environment
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips is
committed to protecting
the environment.
In all of the company’s opera-
tions, the highest environmental
standards are implemented to
ensure that the company’s actions
today will not only provide energy
but also secure a stable environ-
ment for tomorrow.
ConocoPhillips’ acquisition of
Burlington Resources in 2006
brought with it approximately
640,000 acres of wetlands in south-
ern Louisiana. With this acquisition,
the company became the largest
private owner of wetlands in the
U.S., raising its visibility as an envi-
ronmental steward and gaining
properties with a long history of
major oil and gas production.
These wetlands are a mix of
freshwater, saltwater, brackish
marshlands and towering bald
cypress swamps, where managing
the delicate balance of this natural
resource requires strong environ-
mental stewardship. The company
closely monitors all development
and commercial activities on the
properties, and at the same time,
partners with state and federal
agencies on coastal restoration
projects, and engages in various
efforts to protect endangered
species and preserve critical
wildlife habitat.
www.conocophillips.com
6/19/08 6:08 PM Page 5
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The Impact
U.S. Natural Gas Pipeline Transportation Corridors and
Average Interstate Pipeline Utilization Rates by State
Average Utilization Capacity
(Flow Into State) (in Million Cubic Feet per Day)
= 81 to 100%
= 71 to 80% 15,000
= 61 to 70% 12,000
= 51 to 60% 9,000
= 50% or less 6,000
3,000
0
Source: U.S. Department of Energy
14,500-mile navigation system. e Gulf thinking about issues that will affect us
Intracoastal Water Way is a 15,000-mile for the next 100 years, all the way from
system. Both are endangered. the need for mariners to the land loss.”
“If you want something to work in Action must be swift, Twilley warns:
Washington, you have to have a coalition,” “ere is a certain urgency because we are
LaGrange says. “You are not effective facing challenges today that other coastal
when you speak state by state.” states will not face for another 25 or 30
e Gulf Intracoastal Water Way is vul- years. What we do or fail to do will have
nerable, says Raymond Butler of Houston, lasting consequences — and we won’t be
director of the Gulf Intracoastal Canal able to turn back the clock.” ■
Association. “is system is moving 123
Web Directory
million tons of goods a year, most of it
petroleum or petrochemical products.
Erosion is one of our major problems …
ConocoPhillips
we are hoping to direct some action
from Congress.”
Another issue is that the maritime www.conocophillips.com
Entergy
industry is challenged by a lack of qualified
www.entergy.com
personnel, while onshore fabrication infra-
structure is threatened.
Shell
“ere is a worldwide shortage of
www.shell.com
mariners,” says Sam Giberga, chief admin-
istrative officer of Hornbeck Marine, a
major offshore service company. “We see
the need for high-level, integrated
For more information about the America’s WETLAND
Foundation, go to www.americaswetland.com.
For more information about the AWF’s America’s Energy Coast initiative,
go to www.americasenergycoast.org.