The long, drawn out saga of Louisiana’s coastal lawsuits continues, with bills crafted by trial lawyers that could encourage more meritless litigation and divert funding from our coast.
Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch staunchly opposes these measures – SB 233 by Sen. Rick Ward (R-Plaquemine) and HB 569 by Rep. Tim Kerner (R-Jefferson). These bills endeavor to restructure Louisiana’s existing coastal program for the sole purpose of settling baseless lawsuits with a single company no longer operating in Louisiana. The proposed settlement with Freeport McMoRan and resulting legislative proposals are premature, do not support our coast, and do nothing to resolve the litigation.
The proposed settlement scheme that would be enabled by this legislation would create complications for critical coastal remediation efforts, which flies in the face of the plaintiffs’ stated rationale for the litigation. It would change current law and allow funds to be directed outside of coastal protection and restoration efforts and also create a new system of “environmental credits” that would be sold to generate revenue to reimburse the settling defendant. The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) already has a well-established system for receiving and distributing coastal relief funds. Additionally, the state and other organizations have entered into partnerships with the energy industry that have resulted in the restoration of thousands of acres of marshland.
How would adding another layer of bureaucracy to circumvent a well-functioning system already in place improve coastal restoration efforts? Perhaps that is not the real goal, after all?
This could be the reason voters—and taxpayers—do not support this endeavor. A March 2021 survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform found that more than 70 percent of Louisiana residents do not support diverting money from coastal erosion lawsuits away from efforts to restore the state’s coastline. Clearly, Louisianans expect decisions about Louisiana’s coastal restoration investments to be open and transparent.
Coastal lawsuits affect every hardworking, taxpaying Louisiana citizen and are a prime example of the abuses that continue to cost the State of Louisiana. A 2021 study conducted for Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse shows the impact of Louisiana’s civil justice system cost the state $3.87 billion in lost economic activity, 22,550 in job losses and amounted to $1.12 billion in lost wages for hardworking Louisianans. This translates to an annual hidden “tort tax” of $451 currently being paid by every single Louisiana resident.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers and politics should not drive Louisiana’s environmental policy – that is a job for professionals who have expertise in this area and are committed to serving the interests of all Louisianians. We believe our lawmakers will see through this thinly-veiled attempt by these trial lawyers to use the state’s valuable coastline as a means to their own end.
(Editor's note: The Louisiana Record is owned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce).