More than 100 Leading Businesses and Organizations Voice Support for Coastal Master Plan

(Baton Rouge, LA—May 2, 2017) As Coastal Day is celebrated at the legislature this week, ads signed by more than 100 Louisiana businesses, chambers of commerce, associations and non-profit organizations in support of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan will be running in newspapers across the state. The master plan, the state’s 50-year blueprint for coastal restoration and protection efforts, is updated every five years with the best-available science. The 2017 plan is currently being considered for passage by the Louisiana Legislature.

“Entergy’s future is tied to the growth and prosperity of this region,” said Phillip May, president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana. “We understand and share with all Louisianians a sense of urgency to protect and restore Louisiana’s coastline because we know what is at stake, and that’s why we support the 2017 Coastal Master Plan.”

In total, 109 organizations added their names to the full-page ad in support of the Coastal Master Plan, including some of the largest businesses in Louisiana, such as Entergy Corporation, Bollinger Shipyards, McIlhenny Company and Whitney Bank. The full-page ad began running today in select Louisiana papers and will run this week in 10 papers across the state, including The Times-Picayune, The Advocate, Houma Courier, The Daily Comet, The Daily Advertiser, American Press, St. Mary Now and Franklin Banner-Tribune, Morgan City Daily Review, Greater Baton Rouge Business Report and New Orleans CityBusiness.

“The master plan has widespread support from businesses, chambers of commerce, faith-based groups and conservation organizations,” said Cynthia Duet, deputy director of Audubon Louisiana, which paid for the ad as part of its involvement in Restore the Mississippi River Delta. “It is imperative that we pass the plan now so we can continue the critical work of restoring and protecting our coast.”

The ad underscores the message that Louisiana needs the master plan, by showcasing the human and economic risks of continued coastal land loss as well as the job creation benefits of restoring the coast to protect people, wildlife and industries.  

“The Coast Builders Coalition is in strong support of the Coastal Master Plan,” said Scott Kirkpatrick, president of the Coast Builders Coalition. “Representing the thousands of engineers, consultants and contractors doing the daily work to restore and protect the coast, we understand the Coastal Master Plan is not only a commitment to restore and protect the coast but a commitment to jobs and growing the state’s economy.”

A recent statewide poll showed that nearly 9 out of 10 Louisiana voters (88 percent) want their legislator to vote for the Coastal Master Plan. The same poll also showed an overwhelming 97 percent of voters say Louisiana’s coastal areas and wetlands are important to them, and 91 percent of Louisiana voters want funds dedicated to coastal restoration to not be spent on anything else.

“The people, wildlife and industries of Louisiana rely on a healthy coast and the many benefits it provides, including storm protection, wildlife and fisheries habitat, and abundant natural resources,” said Kimberly Davis Reyher, executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. “It is imperative that the Louisiana Legislature moves quickly to pass the Coastal Master Plan.”

The ad is paid for by Restore the Mississippi River Delta, a coalition of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation. Learn more at MississippiRiverDelta.org/MasterPlan.