Coastal Recovery Commission of Alabama | Oil Spill’s Silver Lining? A wake-up call for regional accountability

Oil Spill’s Silver Lining? A wake-up call for regional accountability

Apr 22, 2011

The BP oil spill forced Coastal Alabama to examine weaknesses that existed even before the crisis, said Ricky Mathews, chairman of the Coastal Alabama Leadership Council. And once those vulnerabilities were exposed, it was up to the region’s leaders to address them.

“We can turn a very bad thing into a good thing,” said Mathews, speaking April 21 at the Gulf Coast Leadership Summit, held at the Hilton Riverside Hotel in New Orleans. Among others on the Summit’s wrap-up panel: U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and claims czar Kenneth Feinberg.

In addition to the environmental threat from the spill, Alabama was “slammed socially and environmentally,” Mathews told the crowd. Like the other Gulf states affected by the spill, Alabama deserves its share of compensation monies from BP. But, said Mathews, Alabama leaders are determined not to get stuck in the role of victims. “Because when you’re a victim,” said Mathews, “you’ve got to be rescued.”

The Coastal Alabama Leadership Council (CALC) was formed at the recommendation of the state-created Coastal Recovery Commission (CRC), which Mathews also led. In December of last year, the CRC presented its “Roadmap to Resilience” report, cataloging ways in which the region can build capacities for bouncing back from future threats. That report will serve as a blueprint for the Leadership Council’s efforts.

The conversation over how to best invest BP penalty fees will soon begin in earnest. On the same day the New Orleans panel discussed the challenges and opportunities ahead, the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center announced that BP and the federal government had reached agreement on the immediate release of $1 billion for recovery and restoration efforts in the five affected Gulf states.

In the Center’s press release, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said, “Alabama’s natural resources are environmentally diverse and an economic engine for our state and nation. Ecosystem restoration is vital to the economic vitality of the Alabama Gulf Coast. Obtaining funding for these restoration projects is a major step forward in addressing the oil spill’s damage to our precious natural resources.”

Alabama will directly receive $100 million in early restoration funds, as will Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and Texas. The other $500 million will go to projects selected by federal officials.

FILED UNDER: News and InformationTAGS: BP Penalty Fees, CALC, Coastal Alabama, Coastal Alabama Leadership Council, Kenneth Feinberg, Mary Landrieu, Ricky Mathews, Robert Bentley

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A once-in-a generation opportunity is upon us. A transformational moment in Alabama history.

That’s how Gov. Bob Riley described hopes for the Coastal Recovery Commission (CRC) of Alabama, created by his executive order on September 27, 2010.

The CRC’s mission: To shape, in the wake of BP’s Deep Water Horizon oil spill, “a roadmap to resilience” for South Alabama.

“We must do everything we can to restore what’s been lost because of this disaster,” said Gov. Riley. “But we should also use this moment to strengthen the resilience of our state and coastal communities. The commission will recommend ways that improve our ability to respond to future challenges and examine strategies that will mean far less suffering the next time a catastrophe threatens us.”

The CRC’s work is funded entirely with BP money already contributed to the state. No tax dollars will be used. What’s more, Gov. Riley took pains to insulate the Commission as much as possible from politics as usual. Since he leaves office in January, he’s acutely aware that the recommendations of the Commission will be in another governor’s hands. So he’s reached out to the political camps of both men vying to replace him, inviting them to appoint their own representatives to the Commission to participate in shaping a report that should inspire the new governor no matter who wins in the November elections.

What’s more, Gov. Riley is asking local elected officials to give the Commission a little room to work. “We’ll bring politicians in,” said the governor. “But this will be a citizen-led – not a politician-led – effort. If we do that, I promise you it will be successful.”

The CRC is made up of citizen leaders with broad ranges of experience in civic life in Alabama’s coastal region. It’s headed by Mobile Press-Register publisher Ricky Mathews, who brings to this effort the experience of a similar commission in the post-Hurricane Katrina environment of coastal Mississippi. For a complete list of CRC members, go here.

“What we learned after Katrina on the Mississippi Coast,” said Mathews, “is that a crisis of even enormous proportions provides opportunities to re-imagine a whole region.

“If we do our work on this commission right,” Mathews said, “we can position South Alabama for not only bouncing back more effectively from future catastrophes like oil spills and hurricanes but also for providing greater security and more opportunity for all of our citizens, even when there are no emergencies. That’s the essence of resiliency.”

Forging consensus on what the oil spill’s impacts were and how to make the coast safer for citizens and visitors and more secure for long-term investment is tough enough. Implementing the Commission’s recommendations next year and in the years after will be harder – if the Commission is not able to begin building coalitions of support during this process. “If we’re to make the most of this opportunity,” said Mathews, “we have to begin thinking bigger and broader than we ever have.

“Oil spills and hurricanes don’t just threaten isolated spots on a map,” said Mathews. “Their effects reverberate through an entire state, through a region even. So our chances for coping with future threats depend upon us building a regional vision, an awareness of how we’re connected with one another and how we can work with one another to do more than any of us as individual citizens or individual communities ever imagined.”

This is a project on a fast track. At some point – no one knows exactly when – there is the potential for billions of dollars to flow to the coastal states from BP and from other energy-related sources. To assure that Alabama is positioned to make the most of this potential investment, “we need a plan,” said Gov. Riley. And it has to come quickly.

So the Commission is committed to delivering its report by Dec. 15, initially as a downloadable pdf from this website. Printed books will be available soon thereafter.

The Commission is organizing its work under three broad topics, each connected with the other and each representing a key component of regional adaptability and sustainability:

A Healthy Environment
A Healthy Society
A Healthy Economy

Commission members are assigned to each of the topics and will break the broader categories into sub-committees as they see fit. We’ll report on the activities of those committees and sub-committees on this website regularly.

This is a very public process. Participation of regional experts, elected and appointed officials from all the towns and counties affected by the oil spill, regional business folks, and residents will have plenty of opportunities to review CRC work in progress and contribute their ideas and comments. They’ll be able to do that in person at community meetings, by mail or phone, and online via this website.

Here’s how to make the best use of this site:

If you want to know who’s on the Commission and who’s staffing it, click on the WHO tab in the toolbar above.

If you want to understand the CRC’s mission, get answers to frequently asked questions, and see background data committees are gathering, click on the WHAT & WHY tab.

If you want to know the schedule of public events and locations for meetings, click on the WHEN & WHERE tab.

If you want to contact us directly, you’ll find information under CONTACT US, and at the bottom of each news post in the column to the left, is space for comments and questions.

If you want to read or see what others are saying about the CRC effort, we’ll post links and documens under IN THE NEWS.

This is going to move fast. So keep in touch. We need your participation.