Senators Cassidy and Whitehouse on the bi-partisan RISEE Act | Capitol Beach
On The Capitol Beach, Derek Brockbank speaks with two US Senators, Bill Cassidy (LA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), about their bill, the Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems (RISEE) Act, which ensures federal leasing revenue from offshore energy production – whether wind or traditional oil & gas – is used to build coastal resilience in the states and communities closest to that energy production. This bi-partisan bill forges an old-school political alliance across regional and political divides to ensure coastal communities get the same benefits that inland communities get from energy production, and will help to further establish the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund as a “sister-fund” to the better established and more inland-focused, Land and Water Conservation Fund. As offshore wind projects expand across the country, and the Gulf of Mexico continues to supply oil and gas for the nation this bill could play a pivotal role in how the nation funds coastal resilience.