Northshore Conifer posted on May 04, 2010 18:34
“Governor Jindal slow to react and now refuses to accept responsibility”
State Representative Juan LaFonta today passed a resolution in the Louisiana House of Representatives calling on the federal government to investigate Governor Bobby Jindal’s slow response to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“This is a Katrina-like disaster in the making and Governor Bobby Jindal has let us down,” LaFonta said.
House Concurrent Resolution No. 144 passed unanimously earlier today. The resolution asked federal authorities to “direct the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the governor of Louisiana’srefusal to timely declare a state of emergency in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.”
“Governor Jindal waited until April 29, four days after the disaster, to declare a state of emergency,” LaFonta said. “Now, he’s sitting back and trying to deflect blame onto the federal government. The bottom line is this: Governor Jindal didn’t do his job,” LaFonta said. “I believe the EPA should investigate why Governor Jindal fiddled while our coastline was in immediate danger.”
After LaFonta’s resolution passed, the House moved to reconsider its previous action and then the measure failed to pass a second time.
“I am unfazed by the House’s maneuver today,” LaFonta said. “Governor Jindal and his subordinates were slow to react to the oil spill and didn’t declare a state of emergency for four long days after the disaster.”
“I will continue to fight for Congress and the Obama administration to open an immediate investigation into Governor Jindal’s slow reaction to this disaster,” LaFonta said.
“Having lived through Katrina and studied the government’s slow response in that instance, this is a Katrina-like disaster in the making. I have been told that we had warehouses of oil booms that lay idle while the oil began to spread around the damaged oil rig. I am laying this at the feet of Governor Bobby Jindal,” LaFonta said.
“I have a news flash for Governor Jindal,” LaFonta said. “We drill oil and harvest fish, shrimp and oysters in Louisiana and the two don’t mix. Protecting these core industries requires diligence and vigilance. Governor Jindal has let us down and now the families and small businesses are going to have to pay the price.”
“Because of Governor Jindal’s slow response, we are now behind the curve. State and federal officials are battling to catch up but the damage may have been done in the early hours of the tragedy,” LaFonta said. “I am calling on Governor Jindal to pull out all the stops to protect our precious coastline. We don’t have a moment to spare.”
LaFonta and his family were heavily impacted by Hurricane Katrina as were hundreds of thousands of people in the Greater New Orleans area.