John Neely Kennedy on Environment Democratic Senate Challenger (LA)

Wetlands will wash away before 2017 coastal protection

Landrieu said she was proud of expanding oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, with a large portion of the royalties going to help coastal protection efforts.

Kennedy responded by saying the state’s entire congressional delegation worked to pass the bill & much of the billions of dollars in royalties wouldn’t start flowing until 2017, after thousands more acres of wetlands had washed away

$14B to rebuild America’s coastline

It will cost $14 billion over 10 years to rebuild America’s coastline. That’s a little over two years worth of royalties that the federal government collects from drilling off our coast, which is made possible by Louisiana’s infrastructure. It’s time we demand our fair share of this money to rebuild our coastline and restore our wetlands. No more meetings. No more committees. No more task forces. No more begging for crumbs. This would not be happening in California or Florida or New Jersey, because their citizens would not tolerate it. We should not either.

Loosen restrictions on predator control in Alaska.

Library of Congress Summary: This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of the Interior on Aug. 5, 2016, relating to non-subsistence takings of wildlife and public participation and closure procedures on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.

Case for voting YES by House Republican Policy Committee: The Fish and Wildlife Service rule--which lays claim to more than 20% of Alaska--violates ANILCA (Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act) and the Alaska Statehood Compact. Not only does [the existing 2016 rule] undermine Alaska's ability to manage fish and wildlife upon refuge lands, it fundamentally destroys a cooperative relationship between Alaska and the federal government.

Case for voting NO by the Sierra Club (April 6, 2017):

• President Trump signed H.J. Res. 69, overturning the rule that banned "predator control" on federal wildlife refuges in Alaska unless "based on sound science in response to a conservation concern."
• Any rule mentioning "sound science" is in trouble under a Trump administration.
• So what kinds of practices will the Trump administration now allow on our federal wildlife refuges? Activities that include shooting or trapping wolves while in their dens with pups, or hunting for grizzly bears from airplanes.
• It's all about ensuring a maximum yield of prey species like elk, moose, and caribou for the real apex predator: humans. So if having more elk requires killing wolf pups in their dens, then so be it.
• The Obama administration's rule (which Trump revoked) never tried to stop all hunting. Subsistence hunting was still allowed. What's changed is that the predators on federal wildlife refuges are now under the control of the state of Alaska. And that makes them prey.