The Advocate (Baton Rouge) - 6/26/2000

SENATE ENERGY PANEL TO TAKE UP CARA

By JOAN McKINNEY Advocate Washington Bureau

Private property rights groups have read the legislative calendar and discovered, to their alarm, that this is a critical week for the Conservation and Reinvestment Act.

CARA is the Louisiana delegation's legislation that would give billions in federal outer-continental shelf oil and gas royalties to coastal states and to new federal land-buying and environmental initiatives nationwide.

So last week, CARA opponents, who are principally private landowner groups in the West, mobilized an e-mail and telephone lobbying campaign against the royalty-sharing bill. The lobbying leaders warned their troops not to get violent -- a reflection of the emotionalism of the issue out West.

The property rights groups were jolted into action by a fast-approaching event: the "mark up" in the Senate Energy Committee, which is scheduled to draft a CARA bill Tuesday and Wednesday.

An e-mail from the American Land Rights Association was aimed at the memberships of about 200 property-owner, business and anti-government groups. The message, in part, said:

"You are in a war for the survival of rural America. That does not mean you should use anything other than peaceful means to fight. There is always a way to win in Congress peacefully. ... Violence is never appropriate in the Democratic society."

It went on to say that they must not allow their elected officials to take them for granted.

"You've got to call your senators every day through next Wednesday. ... It is so much cheaper to take some time off now and fight these next few days than try to recover when you have to compete with the greens. If CARA passes, the greens will effectively be using your tax dollars to steal your land."

Translation: The western property rights groups don't want the government to own or control more land, so they oppose reserving a big pot of royalty money for federal and state governments to buy and protect habitat.

Ordinarily a staunch property rights delegation itself, the Louisiana delegation is fighting hard for CARA. In addition to the billions earmarked for federal environmental programs, the CARA bill also would pump about $300 million annually into Louisiana for coastal restoration.

The delegation points out that environmental land-buying programs are viewed much differently east of the Mississippi, where many people want the government to create green spaces in the urban and suburban sprawl.

CARA has passed the House.

Earlier in the process, the Louisiana delegation helped revise CARA, inserting some concessions for the western property rights movement. But, seeing no break in the wall of opposition on the political right, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Alaska Republican Frank Murkowski -- prime movers on CARA -- were steadily negotiating last week with senators at the political center or to the left.

The Landrieu-Murkowski targets include the hold-out Democratic leadership of the Energy Committee, who are trying to extract more concessions for environmental programs.

Landrieu wants one more strategy session with Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. A talk between the two set for last Thursday had to be scrapped for Senate floor business.

It should be back on for today or Tuesday. The Energy Committee markup will be delayed only if Landrieu and Daschle can't find time to talk beforehand, say Landrieu aides.