Women of Storm take fight to D.C.
WASHINGTON -- The weather was bright and brisk, and the spirits high, as about 140 Gulf Coast Women of the Storm rallied, and lobbied Tuesday on Capitol Hill for Congress to direct 80 percent of any penalty money from the BP oil spill to restore the coast the spill despoiled.
"It is often said a rising tide lifts all boats," Women of the Storm founder Anne Milling said. "If Congress takes the common-sense step of dedicating BP fines to the Gulf region, all America will benefit for generations to come from a healthy Gulf that supports domestic energy, ship-going, seafood, ecology, recreation and culture.
It is not time to be short-sighted." Or, as Lucy Buffett, sister of singer Jimmy Buffett and a popular restaurateur in Gulf Shores, Ala., put it, I'm not really political, but this is a no-brainer for me. This is Manners 101:
If you mess something up, you clean it up."
The Women of the Storm -- expanded, post-spill, to include women from all five Gulf States -- gathered on a long stretch of lawn on the Senate side of the Capitol, bearing their trademark blue umbrellas, a reminder of the blue tarps that covered so many roofless homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
They were joined by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who grew up in the Upper 9th Ward, and was named by the Obama administration to head the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, and Donald Boesch, a New Orleans native and environmental scientist, who served on the National Oil Spill Commission named by the president.
The commission and the administration have backed efforts to dedicate most of the penalty money under the Clean Water Act to restoring the Gulf Coast to a condition better than existed before last year's spill.
The women also were joined by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, who has filed legislation in the House to accomplish that, and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who will be refiling her own companion legislation in the Senate.
"I have no doubt that we will be successful, with your determination and your stormy personalities," Landrieu told the Women of the Storm. "It is only proper that the Gulf Coast states receive the lion's share of the fines BP will have to pay as a result of this disaster, and it is imperative that we work together without delay to move this legislation forward," Scalise said.
"As we say in my house, when mama ain't happy, nobody's happy," said Mary Matalin, the Republican strategist, and wife of Democratic strategist, James Carville. "These women are not happy, and they represent a region, but this isn't a no-brainer for me. This is Manners 101 -- you mess something up, you clean it up."
The Women of the Storm -- expanded, post-spill, to include women from all five Gulf States -- gathered on a long stretch of lawn on the Senate side of the Capitol, bearing their trademark blue umbrellas, a reminder of the blue tarps that covered so many roofless homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
With the help of their politically connected friends, the Women of the Storm arranged meetings with some of the most influential members of Congress. Milling's day included meetings with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a long-time ally. At the Pelosi meeting, Milling was joined by Nancy Marsiglia, Peggy Laborde and Rita Benson LeBlanc.
The women, who left New Orleans by daybreak, headed home by nightfall, feeling they had made progress and also better understood the obstacles that remain.
"We feel as though maybe we moved the ball a few yards down the field," Milling said.
"We repeatedly heard this from various congressmen and senators. The Gulf Coast delegation has got to come together and nothing can move until that happens," Milling said. "Like Sen. Boxer said to us, she's ready to go and to move the bill, but we've got to get the whole Gulf Coast on board."
Use BP fines to help Gulf region, they say
By Jonathan Tilove, Times-Picayune
WASHINGTON -- The weather was bright and brisk, and the spirits high, as about 140 Gulf Coast Women of the Storm rallied, and lobbied Tuesday on Capitol Hill for Congress to direct 80 percent of any penalty money from the BP oil spill to restore the coast the spill despoiled.
"It is often said a rising tide lifts all boats," Women of the Storm founder Anne Milling said. "If Congress takes the common-sense step of dedicating BP fines to the Gulf region, all America will benefit for generations to come from a healthy Gulf that supports domestic energy, ship-going, seafood, ecology, recreation and culture.
It is not time to be short-sighted." Or, as Lucy Buffett, sister of singer Jimmy Buffett and a popular restaurateur in Gulf Shores, Ala., put it, I'm not really political, but this is a no-brainer for me. This is Manners 101:
If you mess something up, you clean it up."
The Women of the Storm -- expanded, post-spill, to include women from all five Gulf States -- gathered on a long stretch of lawn on the Senate side of the Capitol, bearing their trademark blue umbrellas, a reminder of the blue tarps that covered so many roofless homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
They were joined by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who grew up in the Upper 9th Ward, and was named by the Obama administration to head the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, and Donald Boesch, a New Orleans native and environmental scientist, who served on the National Oil Spill Commission named by the president.
The commission and the administration have backed efforts to dedicate most of the penalty money under the Clean Water Act to restoring the Gulf Coast to a condition better than existed before last year's spill.
The women also were joined by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, who has filed legislation in the House to accomplish that, and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who will be refiling her own companion legislation in the Senate.
"I have no doubt that we will be successful, with your determination and your stormy personalities," Landrieu told the Women of the Storm. "It is only proper that the Gulf Coast states receive the lion's share of the fines BP will have to pay as a result of this disaster, and it is imperative that we work together without delay to move this legislation forward," Scalise said.
"As we say in my house, when mama ain't happy, nobody's happy," said Mary Matalin, the Republican strategist, and wife of Democratic strategist, James Carville. "These women are not happy, and they represent a region, but this isn't a no-brainer for me. This is Manners 101 -- you mess something up, you clean it up."
The Women of the Storm -- expanded, post-spill, to include women from all five Gulf States -- gathered on a long stretch of lawn on the Senate side of the Capitol, bearing their trademark blue umbrellas, a reminder of the blue tarps that covered so many roofless homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
With the help of their politically connected friends, the Women of the Storm arranged meetings with some of the most influential members of Congress. Milling's day included meetings with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a long-time ally. At the Pelosi meeting, Milling was joined by Nancy Marsiglia, Peggy Laborde and Rita Benson LeBlanc.
The women, who left New Orleans by daybreak, headed home by nightfall, feeling they had made progress and also better understood the obstacles that remain.
"We feel as though maybe we moved the ball a few yards down the field," Milling said.
But, before boarding their charter plane home, Milling said that her canvassing of the other women revealed a common thread in what they were hearing from members of Congress during their day of lobbying: Gulf Coast lawmakers must be united around a piece of legislation for it to have antheir day of lobbying: Gulf Coast lawmakers must be united around a piece of legislation for it to have any chance of success.
"We repeatedly heard this from various congressmen and senators. The Gulf Coast delegation has got to come together and nothing can move until that happens," Milling said. "Like Sen. Boxer said to us, she's ready to go and to move the bill, but we've got to get the whole Gulf Coast on board."
. . . . . . .
Jonathan Tilove can be reached at jtilove@timespicayune.com or 202.857.5125.
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