June 4, 2010


Dear President Obama and Secretary Salazar:



The business owners and managers of Iberia
Parish and its residents agree with you on
your position of zero tolerance for the
actions and decisions that resulted in the BP
oil spill. We wholeheartedly support the
proposed review of safety issues relative to
deep water drilling and we believe that many
of those safety measures can be expedited and
implemented immediately. 

We care about our natural resources, our
communities and each other. And, we know that
we can accomplish two things at once: we can
protect workers and the environment, while we
continue to produce energy and jobs for
Americans. It is critical to the entire
nation that we do so.

With all due respect, we urge you to reduce
the six-month moratorium on deepwater
drilling in the Gulf to no more than thirty
days, during which time any additional rig
inspections can be conducted by Minerals
Management Service officials, greatly
reducing the job loss and minimizing the
negative economic impacts felt by our region
while ensuring a safer industry. 

As we, as a country, endeavor to reduce our
dependency on foreign oil, we cannot afford
to scatter the skilled work force of the Gulf
 Coast, which is also the same workforce that
will be able to produce the natural gas that
this country needs. These skilled workers
that will drive the alternative energy
economy will all be gone after a six month
moratorium.

Just like space exploration,  the airline
industry, and coal mining, oil exploration is
a risky business. This Deepwater Horizon
incident was horrific. We don’t want
another one like it, but we cannot afford
from any perspective to shut the industry
down. The customer base for practically every
business in our area is supported by the oil
industry—grocery stores, restaurants,
hospitals, automobile sales, food service
companies, retail sales, lawn services,
school systems, the housing industry and on
and on.
 
Louisiana is a working coast. The same
hard-working people who were slammed by
hurricanes Rita and Ike are now having their
jobs threatened by the moratorium. These
people are resilient. They have stayed
through hard times to do the work and now the
work is being threatened. The federal
government’s investment made in this region
of the country after the hurricanes will be
negated by a six month moratorium on oil.
Shutting down America’s Energy Corridor
shuts down America. 

We are working people. We are here to make
this country stronger. We ask you to
reconsider the moratorium, for Iberia Parish,
for Louisiana and for America.


Respectfully,
Janet Faulk

CEO

  Copy: Sen.Landrieu   Rep. Melancon     Sen.
Hebert    Rep. Champagne    Mike Tarantino
             Sen. Vitter       Lt. Gov.
Angelle   Rep. Barras   Ernest Freyou