Sen. Thad Cochran made a surprise announcement this morning in Biloxi, MS: He proposed a buyout of Federal drilling leases within 12 miles of MS barrier islands and a moratorium on drilling in Federal waters within that limit. He also announced that, if state officials make a request, he will work for a Federal buyout of state mineral rights near Gulf Islands National Seashore.
This places Cochran out in front of the MS congressional delegation on an important conservation matter. Governor Barbour had
refused to rule out drilling, choosing to call for a suspension of activities pending a coastal zone study.
This announcement comes three days after 3000 people attended a
rally in the Biloxi coliseum to preserve the barrier islands.
Is what happens here a national issue?
Stories this spring in the LA Times and Manchester (UK) Guardian saw it this way, MS being a strong Red State, and an easier entry point that would be precedent to pry open other state waters where the environmental ethic is stronger.
This is a remarkable turnaround, since Senator Cochran was responsible for inserting into a War and Tsunami Relief statute a provision opening up these barrier islands to drilling. Reports indicated that Sen. Cochran did this at the request of Governor Barbour, and neither seemed to be aware of the controversy that would follow.
Although not widely known, these islands are gaining increasing national press. Horn Island was identified as one of America's ten best beaches in Men's Journal this summer and another publication identified the MS coast as among the best areas for recreational boating. This press follows in the heel of a new pulse of condominium and dockside casino development that may propel the MS coast into a new level of tourism. For this reason, the local community was unusually united, with Repubs and Dems side by side trying to hold onto a good tourism environment.
It is a major step forward and it was a people power effort. Important lesson, work the grassroots.